Newfound Past
by Doctor Robert
Summary: Lugh and Lleu discover their long lost father and find themselves on a mission to rescue their mother with Chad, Cath, and Hugh at their sides. Along the way, they confront the bitter feelings of their past and their future and I think they certainly come out better for their troubles. Rated T for safety and such... Update: After FOUR YEARS! This, my first fic, is done!
1. Prologue

The Doctor: Well, it seems I've finally built up the courage to upload this to this galent site. This here is my first fanfiction I wrote, which was about a year ago. I originally was going to wait until I finished it... but perhaps actually releasing it will actually motivate me to actually complete it.

Raven: ...Did you say actually three times in the same sentance?

Doc: Why... yes, yes I did.

Raven: ...moron.

Doc: Look, y'all can just leave if y'all gonna make fun of me and my meness.

Raven: ...

Ewan: I don't mind your meness.

Doc: Well, thank you, young one. I dunno why I decided to have "muses" appear as I commentate...

Raven: Because you thought it was cool.

Doc: ... *Anyway* Let's just get the obvious stuff out of the way: No, I don't own Fire Emblem, sorry, but I don't… This is just a tad of alternate universe, although that's really depending on opinion. This is based on the Nino/Erk paring, other parings featured later on include Roy/Lilina, Lleu/Sophia, Lugh/OC, Chad/Cath, Pricilla/OC, and Raven/OC...

Raven: Wait, what?

Doc: You heard me the first time. You're too much of a badass to just go off and be emo like that.

Raven: But I want to go off and be emo!

Doc: Do as you're told!

Ewan: hehehe!

Raven: Shut up, shrimp!

Doc: Behave! Both of you; don't make me come back there. Anyway, A Note on Names: I will be using specific versions of names, sometimes drawing from the direct translation, sometimes pulling from fan translation.

Lugh (pronounced Lew): Also known as Lou and sometimes Lew. Lugh is how the Celtic deity is spelt (Lugh of Fire Emblem is named after that).

Lleu (pronounced Lay): Also known as Ray or Rei. I use Lleu because that's how the Welsh version of Lugh is spelt and it sounds and looks more twinly to the name Lugh than Ray or Rei…

Nosferatu: In the backwater country that I grew up in, this is what Resire is called. Nosferatu is a more fitting name to me because the spell is vampirish (you steal your enemy's HP) and Nosferatu is the name of an old (1921 AD) German version of the movie Dracula… go figure...

Doc: This is rated T mostly for the commentary... I try to be clean, but you might see something nasty, so I'll just be safe rather than sorry. Well, that's that! Enough of my babble!

Ewan: Roll film!

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><p>Prologue<p>

Klein, son of the count and countess of Reglay, Lord Pent and Lady Louise, and peerless sniper, returned from his evening target practice alone. It was always good to keep up his practice even with his skill. He put his bow over his shoulder as he walked back to the Lycian Alliance Army's camp. Several campfires lit his destination and he could see the shadowy figures of the army's members huddled around the campfires in the last remnants of twilight. His little sister, Clarine, was at the farthest campfire to the west, which was on Klein's left amongst the group of fires.

He sat down next to his little sister on her right, "Oh," she said quietly as he sat next to her quite unexpectedly, "You scared me, big brother."

Klein smiled cleverly, "Sorry, dear sister." he replied. He looked over to Rutgar on Clarine's left, "And how are you, Rutgar?"

"Alright, I suppose." replied the long brown haired Sacaean mysteriously. Klein smiled, Rutgar was probably there against his will, under the wing of Clarine. Clarine had dedicated herself to making Rutgar into a gentleman. Klein felt rather sorry for the chap, but figured he enjoyed Clarine's company just the same.

Klein turned to the rest of the patrons of that particular campfire. Aside from Clarine, Rutgar, and himself, there were only three others on the opposite side of the campfire. They three were only boys, perhaps twelve or thirteen. On the left of the log they'd been sharing was a green haired boy. He wore a yellow cloak over his green tunic and green knickers. He always seemed cheery and optimistic most of the time. The next boy over was a thief. He wore a brown cloak, grey baggy pants, and a blue tunic. He had sandy blond hair and a bit of a tough look on his face. The last boy on the right was the twin brother of the one on the left. He wore his dark robe that covered most of his body with its hood up. His arms were crossed and he seemed unhappy. All three were orphaned, Klein had heard. They were all very thin, as if they'd not gotten enough to eat. They were talking with each other, or actually the sandy blond haired boy and the green haired boy with the yellow cloak were talking and the dark robed boy was sulking.

"…Sure I remember my dad," said the green haired boy, Klein suddenly remembered his name was Lugh. "He was a mage, like my mom. His name was Erk. He would always put me and Lleu on his shoulders and walk around with us up on his shoulders and…"

"Wait a second," said Klein as he looked towards Lugh, "What did you say your dad's name was again?"

Lugh turned his blue eyes to Klein. "Erk, Erk of Reglay. Why do you ask?" asked Lugh with genuine curiosity.

"Because my father might've been your father's master." replied Klein. He got up and walked from his previous seat and sat on a log next to one Lugh, Chad, the sandy blond boy, and Lleu, Lugh's twin, had been sharing.

"Really?" asked Lugh, interest growing in his eyes.

"I think so," nodded Klein, "My father spoke of a young mage he took on as an apprentice before I was born. The lad's name was Erk and my father and mother treated him much like he was their own son."

"I might've been a different Erk," spoke the hooded figure of Lleu from beyond Lugh and Chad.

"I don't think so," said Klein, "Erk's a pretty uncommon name and besides, you said Erk of Reglay. My father is the Count of Reglay."

"It has to be our father," said Lugh, half to the cloaked ball of anti-socialism seated at the end of the log that was his twin and half to himself.

"Okay," said Lleu, "So what?"

"Well," replied Klein, "I'll send a letter to Reglay tomorrow and I'll ask about it. I'm sure my father would want to meet you."

* * *

><p>Four months passed since that night in the Western Isles. Lleu had slowly become a little less anti-social and rude to people, to the nearly annoying delight of his twin. Lugh and Chad had befriended a mage named Hugh. Hugh had been humorously harassed by Lleu, but Lleu eventually warmed up to Hugh after a while. Chad had also befriended a fellow thief, a girl his age by the name of Cath…<p>

Lugh emerged from the entrance of the Dragon Temple. It was nice to breathe the clear mountainous air of late spring after being in a musty old temple for a few days. He gazed out onto the grassy plain, the lake, and the mountains beyond, a battleground but a few days before. Most of the army was still emerging from the chamber, but Lugh spotted his twin a few dozen yards ahead, pensively looking out to the landscape.

Lugh walked up to his twin's side, "Hey." he said in greeting.

"Hey," said his brother. There was a short silence before Lleu said, "…We did it."

"Yes, yes we did," said Lugh, crossing his arms in accomplishment, a grin on his face.

"You were pretty awesome back there," remarked Lleu honestly as he looked onto his brother, "With Forblaze and all…"

"Oh," said Lugh with a bit of a smile, "Of course, when you cast Apocalypse on that dragon… that was so cool."

"Thank you for that." said Lleu, patting his brother on the back, "And for being here… I guess it's hard for me to admit, but I probably wouldn't have survived without you and Chad watching my back…"

"Yeah, I'm glad we found each other," remarked Lugh, "I think we're pretty much unstoppable together."

Lleu gave a very rare smile as he stared at the lake ahead, "Especially with Devine Weapons on our belt… Athos and Bramimond will roll over in their graves to find out their weapons were successfully wielded by a pair of 13 year old poor orphaned boys. It'd be really cool if they let us keep them."

Lugh laughed, "I really don't think Bern or Arcadia would let us '13 year old poor orphaned boys' keep their national treasures. Although, yes, it would be epic if we got to keep the most powerful anima and dark tomes known to exist."

Presently, Chad, Cath, and Hugh approached the twins, "Hey guys." said Chad happily.

The young sage and druid turned around to meet their friends, "Hey," they said, humorously at the same time.

There was a strangely awkward silence before Lugh asked, "So… what are you guys going to go now that it's over?"

"Well," said Hugh, "As for me, I'm going back to Etruria to start..."

"Me and Lugh are headed that way," said Chad, "To pick up the little ones."

"Don't forget me," said Lleu quietly.

"Wait a second," said Lugh, "You're coming too?"

"I guess…" said Lleu, but that was all Lugh needed.

"Yay! I'm so happy, Lleu!" Lugh squealed joyfully. He then spontaneously bear hugged his brother. He squeezed so hard, Lleu feared, that despite his very heavy druid's cloak his ribcage would break under the pressure. "Then you'll never ever leave ever, will you Lleu?" Lugh had a way of making a joyful moment that would make the heartiest men cry a tear of joy.

"Well… I… um…" said Lleu as he gasped for air, "You and I… we'll talk about that part… later." Lleu really wished his brother would stop crushing his skeleton, but he also really couldn't deny all the overwhelmingly brotherly love his brother had for him that he was trying to convey particularly now. "Can… Can I… breath now… please?"

"Oh, sorry," said Lugh, his smile changed to a frown at himself for being so careless. Lleu immediately doubled over and spent a minute to catch his breath as everyone chuckled.

"Where will you guys go after you've picked up the little ones?" asked Hugh.

"…I dunno," said Chad, "Araphen, I guess."

"Or perhaps somewhere else," said Klein as he walked up to the five.

"Lord Klein. Did you receive word from your father?" asked Lugh.

"Only just now, actually," replied Klein, "The messenger was trailing us for nearly 3 months. It was hard for him to catch up with us on the move all the time… Anyway," he pulled out the letter. It was on fine parchment, penned elegantly, and had the seal of House Reglay stamped at the bottom of the message and pressed in the broken wax seal, "My father, Lord Pent, invites you, Lugh, Lleu, and Chad, along with any of your friends that would like to come, to Reglay castle. He and my mother, Lady Louise, wish to meet you in person."

"Sure," said Lugh, "We'll go there after we've picked up the little ones, right guys?"

"…I guess," said Lleu, "If this Lord Pent guy _invited _me… besides, I don't think Lugh would take no for an answer from me, anyway."

Lugh grinned at his twin as Chad spoke up, "Sure, I'll go there."

"Mind if I come along?" asked Cath, who'd been quiet until that moment, "…I've heard some… interesting stuff about Lord Pent and I wanna see it for myself!"

"Sure," said Chad. He knew she really wanted to check and see if Lord Pent was corrupt or not and then maybe steal something from him, "I guess you're my friend, after all. Just don't call me 'Servant Number 1' the whole way."

"Hey, I already stopped doing that," retorted Cath, "Besides, we're partners now, we need to stick together!" Even though she kind of talked down to Chad, even if he was older and didn't deserve it, she was touched to hear that Chad had called her his friend…

"I never quite said we were 'partners' either… but… er, whatever" said Chad, rolling his eyes. Everyone laughed.

"How about you, Hugh?" asked Lugh, "You wanna join us?"

Hugh thought for a minute before saying, "Alright. Lord Pent _is_ a great sage, so they say, he might teach me a few pointers and such. Why not?"

"Very good, I'm sure my father would be happy to have all of you." said Klein with a hospitable grin, "When you're ready, Clarine and I will be waiting at the inn at the village near the south edge of the lake."

They all nodded and Klein left for the village. Roy exited the temple with Idenn, formerly the demon dragon, in his arms. After talking with Merlinus, Roy dismissed the entire army. Lugh and Lleu convinced the other three to leave quickly, as both twins wanted to keep their divine weapons without having to turn them over to Merlinus. They arrived at the village to meet up with Klein, his sister Clarine, as well as Tate, and Rutgar, the later two being the former's guests. The group set out towards the direction the afternoon sun was setting, west towards Reglay.

* * *

><p>The Doctor: Well, there's the prolouge; the first chapter will follow... very soon because I've already written it.<p>

Ewan: Please review this.

Raven: Or I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish!

Doc: Raven, save that for when they give negative reviews.

Raven: Very well...

Doc: Don't let him discourage you, a review (a _kind_ review, even if critical) is most warmly welcome. So get to it, please review it!

Raven: Man, that's corny as hell...


	2. Past and Present

The Doctor: Hello again!

Ewan: Hi!

Raven: 'sup!

Doc: Here's the first chapter for real. Again, I don't own Fire Emblem because if I did, Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem would be in my country (the United States) already and all those old games would've been offically translated and released on their respective systems (including Fire Emblem 6) long ago.

Doc: As you can probably guess, I took the liberty of exploiting multiple supports, meaning rather than just having ChadLugh's supports, I had ChadLleu as well; I did this for Chad, Lugh, Hugh, Lleu, and Cath so all five could be a group of good friends and they all know eachother. I suppose this is the AU bit mostly, in my own defense, it was for the sake of artistic license. Besides, that's what fanfiction is, right? Anyway, enough of my dilusional rant, on with the show.

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

Past and Present

"There it is!" declared Klein on his steed. While most members of the army dismounted when in combat, to travel around Elibe in a reasonable time, all of them had horses of some sort as the standard issue of the Lycian Alliance and Etrurian Army. Most of them got to keep their steeds after the war ended, which was very handy in their return trips.

Presently, Klein pointed to a castle, a manor, really. Reglay manor was an elegant building, nonetheless. It was about a mile from a nearby village, situated in a woodland. The manor's grounds surrounding the great stone building and its out buildings was all cleared, however. There were many gardens and paths dotting the surrounding green and grounds of the manor. There were stables, a blacksmith, a small Elimine church, and several houses for the various servants and priests that ran the various out buildings.

Reglay manor was indeed the residence of the Count of Reglay, but was also known as a mage school. The current Count, Lord Pent, was formerly the Mage General of Etruria, and therefore, a fantastically powerful sage. He started accepting a group of students almost immediately after he took the throne of the manor. Soon, he hired mages as teachers and before anyone really knew it, he had a mage school in his house. Of course, the castle was more that big enough and his students really only numbered less than twenty, but it did serve to raise questions from the snobbier nobles of Etruria. But Pent's fruitful results from his continuation of Archsage Athos's research could hardly be ignored. He'd been a student of Athos for about a year, and after the greatest wizard of all time died at the Dragon's Gate twenty years before, Pent took the research back to his manor and worked on it in between running a school, running a manor, and raising his darling son and daughter. It seemed that despite the fact that Lord Pent was considered odd by his less than forgiving peers, he could do it all.

"Ah," said Clarine sentimentally, "Home sweet home!"

Behind her on her steed, Rutgar rolled his eyes, "Whatever…" he said quietly.

"Oh, don't worry, Rutgar," said Clarine, "After I clean you up, mother and father will surely adore you!"

"Yeah, it's the 'cleaning up' part that concerns me, Clarine." said Rutgar.

"That's Lady Clarine, Rutgar," corrected Clarine defiantly, "And don't you be forgetting the Lady before my name."

"Clarine, give the poor man a break," said Klein in defense of Rutgar, "Come, let us appear before our parents." Klein brought his horse into a gallop as he headed towards the manor. The others soon followed and they all headed up to the massive oaken doors of the manor.

Lord Pent and his lovely wife, Lady Louise were waiting in front of the doors to the manor to greet their children. They would seem not to have aged a single day to those that knew them twenty years previous, despite the fact that Louise was in her mid forties and Pent was in his late forties. Pent, of course, was a mage of great power, and therefore had a slower aging process than normal, thanks, in part, to Athos's research, Athos himself being at least two thousand years of age when he died. Pent had even been able to slow his wife's age as well as she was as beautiful as ever. Both were now beaming at their children and children's friends as they rode up.

"Mom, Dad!" shouted Klein and Clarine, humorously in unison, as they jumped off their horses and ran up to their parents. Never bothering with formalities, the siblings didn't bow towards their parents and rather gave them each a warm hug.

Chad, Lugh, and Lleu all sadly looked towards the ground. They had no parents to hug and hold like that. No parents to tell of their travels and share experiences to. They were orphaned children. Such was the sad story of their existence.

"But aren't you going to introduce us to your friends?" asked Pent after hugging his son and daughter.

"Oh, yes, sorry," replied Klein, slightly embarrassed at himself. "This is Tate and Rutgar. And that's Lugh, Lleu, and Chad, the ones I told about in my letter, and their friends Cath and Hugh.

Lugh, Lleu, Chad, Cath, and Hugh all got off their horses, walked up to the stone stairs leading up to the doors and all of them bowed except Cath, who stayed back just a little. "Oh please, none of that!" said Pent, "I get enough of that sort of junk from my students and attendants. Please, rise."

Cath looked more than a little surprised as the other four rose from their bows, "Louise," said Pent as he put his hand on his chin, "Wouldn't you say…"

"Of course, my love," replied Louise with a smile, "They are definitely Nino and Erk's sons. There's no doubt about that. They look so much like Nino…"

"And you, sir." said Pent, pointing at Hugh,

"Me?" asked Hugh.

"You look a lot like a chap I knew about twenty years ago." stated Pent, "Canas. Are you familiar with him?"

"That's my old man," replied Hugh, "You knew my old man?"

"Yes, I did," said Pent with a smile, "I'd like to tell you more, but right now, all of you are tired, hungry, and in need of a bath, I'd wager. Our attendants will take good care of your horses. Come, inside, you are all welcome as our guests, right, my dear?"

"Of course, my Lord Pent," said Louise to her husband, "Come, let us take care of you." she said very motherly to the group.

"Thank you, mom and dad," said Klein. They entered the manor and walked into a high-ceilinged stone entrance hall.

"C'mon, Rutgar, into the bath!" said Clarine. She grabbed Rutgar by the shoulder and dragged him down the hall in another direction, not letting him go no matter what happened.

"Wait, can't we talk about this…" pleaded Rutgar.

"No, you're getting in that bathtub and that's final!" shouted Clarine, her shouts echoing off the walls and ceiling as she entered another room. They all had a good chuckle before Klein and Tate departed to get their own baths.

Lugh, Lleu, and Chad approached Lord Pent, "Lord Pent?" asked Lugh.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" asked Pent courteously.

"Have you received the little ones yet?" asked Chad.

"That, I did." said Pent with a smile, "The Elimine church delivered them safely to me yesterday. They're the most well behaved four children I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Come, they're this way-"

Pent didn't need to show them to the little ones, as the little ones presently came bolting out of a particular door at one of the ends of the hall. They screamed all three of the orphan's names as the four of them, two boys and two girls, jumped into the three's arms.

"Hey guys," said Lugh, "Told you I could get Chad and Lleu back."

"We were so happy when we heard you'd come, Lugh," said one of the boys cheerfully, "We couldn't wait to see you guys anymore!"

"It's alright," said Chad, "We're glad to see you guys, right Lleu?"

"Yeah," agreed Lleu, "We are a family, I guess."

"Here, guys," said Lugh, "I'd like you to meet our friends, Hugh and Cath."

Hugh smiled as the four little children all hugged his legs as he towered over them, "I guess children aren't too bad… Of course, Mr. Nosferatu stealer over there did give off a bad impression."

"Oh, why'd you have to bring that up… again?" asked Lleu, first rolling his eyes, then crossing his arms, "I already said I'm sorry, but that spell book did save my bum, time after time, I might add." his mouth formed a bit of a mischievous smirk as he looked at Hugh.

"Yeah, I suppose so." said Hugh, rolling his own eyes.

Cath also was charmed by the young orphans. She smiled as they all hugged her in greeting too. She was still preoccupied by Lord Pent. The rumors that he was… well, put bluntly, a wacky noble were right. He didn't even call his servants 'servants', rather 'attendants'. She resolved to ask him about his old habit of leaving his manor for long periods and she would ask him how he felt about the people and how the people felt about him…

"Come," said Pent to the little ones, "They're rather tired and are in need of relaxation… and a bath… Come." the little ones trouped behind Pent as he walked down the hall. He turned his head back to the group, "Meet me tonight in the sitting room, we've a lot to discuss."

"Wow," said Lleu, "Pent must really have a talent for children if he could get the little ones to behave so well."

"Well," responded Lugh to his twin, "He _is_ a teacher and a parent."

"True," nodded Lleu, "C'mon, I've been dieing for a hot bath… for years."

His friends and brother all laughed at his very true statement. They all followed a helpful attendant to individual bath chambers and they proceeded to soak their tired bodies in hot water. Then, they were shown to their guest quarters, Lugh and Lleu shared a room, but the others got their own.

"Oh, why do we have to share a room, again?" complained Lleu as he plopped down on a plushy couch. The room was really large, certainly large enough for two people. It had a sitting area near the fireplace with two couches and a balcony that overlooked the forested countryside beyond. Two four poster beds were placed long ways out from the wall on the opposing walls and against the door's wall and were somewhat close to each other.

"Oh, you love me, Lleu," said Lugh with a grin, "Besides, I'll be so quiet over here, on this incredibly comfy four poster bed." he said as he laid back on the bed in question, "You won't notice I existed. Now _your_ snoring on the other hand… boy, it's a wonder I got any sleep at all. You were the real reason we were never attacked in the middle of the night."

"I'm not _that_ bad," said Lleu honestly.

"Yeah, I guess." remarked Lugh, also with honesty, "I'm just messing with you."

"I know," Lleu replied. He sat up to look at his twin, "You're my brother, it's your job." There was a bit of a silence between the brothers. Lleu took out Apocalypse and looked at it in his hands.

"You know," said Lugh as he got up to sit in the couch opposite to Lleu's couch, "We really ought to return these divine weapons."

"I'll return it when I'm finished making my copy," said Lleu, another mischievous grin had come to his face.

"It _is_ a divine weapon," pointed out Lugh, "You shouldn't take it so lightly."

"And who's been copying out of Forblaze since he received it from Roy?" pointed out Lleu.

"…Touché." remarked Lugh. He had indeed been making his own copy, trying hard to match Athos's divine tome as exactly as possible. "It's fascinating, though. It's not just a really powerful fire tome, it tells how to be an Archsage."

"…You mean someone who can wield elder and divine magic just as good as anima magic?" asked Lleu.

"Yeah, you get to live a really long time, too." added Lugh.

"Well, I might just have to barrow that tome of yours," Lleu said, a mischievous grin returning to his face once more, "Really, it beats surrendering your soul completely to darkness and becoming an echo of everyone else's personality. That's what happens in my book. And trust me, I do not want to have to echo your personality for the rest of my life." The brothers laughed. Lleu, it seemed, was becoming a little less cold and distant to his brother of late. Lugh was really happy for that. He assumed at first it was because Lleu's own brother got to wield _the_ Forblaze, the greatest fire tome, above and beyond any of the other mages in the army. At first, Lugh figured, it was sheer respect for his brother because he owned the weapon. Then after a while, Lugh figured, Lleu remembered who he used to be, considerably less cold, and Lleu began to open up, at least to his brother.

"So what do you think Pent will say tonight?" asked Lleu, descending back into his cynical attitude. Lugh supposed that meant his brother took everything into careful consideration, a trait Lugh admired in his brother.

"I dunno," replied Lugh honestly, a trait his own brother admired, "But one thing's for sure, I'm too interested in learning something about my dad to care what Lord Pent will say."

Lleu nodded slowly, "Me too," he agreed quietly.

"Do you remember dad?" asked Lugh.

"…No." Lleu lied.

"Well I do. I remember mom's and his faces very clearly," stated Lugh cheerfully.

"I know," said Lleu pensively, "You've told me about them countless times…"

Lugh walked over to the balcony, "Oh, it looks like a storm's brewing."

Lleu followed his brother and looked out towards the setting sun. Dark clouds loomed on the northern horizon, threatening to cover the already nearly gone sun. Fortunately, the sun set without hindrance over the mountains to the west. The brothers silently watched it together, both of them strangely lost in thought. When the sun went over the mountains, the brothers went inside. The wind began blowing from the north and thunder could be heard far away.

* * *

><p>The Doctor: I got the <em>very very distinct <em>impression that Lleu was beginning to open up and not be so emo towards the end of his support conversations with Chad, Lugh, and Sophia. In Hugh's supports, he's still a jerk, but I think he deserves to warm up and de-emo, don't you?

Raven: That's one hell of a risky move, Doc.

Doc: Hmmm... yes.

Ewan: Read and review...

Doc: ...because we want you to!

Raven: Oh, God.


	3. A Ghost Appears

The Doctor: Hello again! First off, I'd like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Gunlord500 for reviewing this. It was more than enough encouragement for me to post the next chapter.

Raven: What? Because if you didn't get a review, you'd never post the rest of the story?

Doc: Uh... something to that effect, yes.

Raven: ...I see.

Doc: Well, let's not dwell on what didn't happen, shall we? On to Chapter Two!

Ewan: Wait! You forgot something!

Doc: What?

Ewan: The disclaimer...

Doc: Oh, right right... *sighs* I don't own Fire Emblem because if I did, Shadow Dragon would have authentic mode and practical mode, practical mode having all the improvements made on the games after Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light (upgrading thieves, upgrading main character, magic triangle, etc.) Anyway, I digress... let's do this!

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

A Ghost Appears

It was dark outside, now. The wind howled and the rain beat heavily against the windows of Reglay Manor. Thunder cracked and lightning struck outside, making it very bad for any and all stuck out there. Pent and Louise sat in comfy chairs in their large sitting room, with saucers and cups of piping hot tea in their hands. A roaring fire crackled behind them, keeping the large room nice and warm. It was the only illumination in the room, but was enough to light the faces of Pent and Louise's audience seated across the large circular table in identically elegant chairs. The little ones had been put to bed after dinner by their elder orphans and surrogate brothers, Chad, Lugh, and Lleu. They three, along with Cath and Hugh, now sat in their comfy chairs with tea in their hands. Clarine and Klein both joined the five, curious about the man whom was like a son to their parents before they both were born.

Pent smiled his cryptic smile and began Louise and his story, looking towards the twins, "The truth is, I knew your father, your mother, and your great-uncle, Erk, Nino, and Canas, respectively."

"Wait a second," interrupted Hugh, "My old man was-"

"Lugh and Lleu's mother's uncle, therefore their great-uncle." finished Pent with his smile still on his face.

"Whoa," said Hugh. He turned to the twins, "So we're related?"

"Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are." said Lleu.

Lugh elbowed Lleu for his rude comment, "We're cousins?" he asked, nearly rhetorically.

"First cousins, once removed," corrected Pent, "Your mother, Nino," he said indicating the twins, "was the daughter of your mother's," he indicated Hugh, "sister."

"Wow," said Lugh, a bit shocked that the guy who'd almost been an older brother to him in some sense during the war, was actually not far off from that assumption, "But anyway, could you continue, please, Lord Pent?"

Pent nodded, "My pleasure. Anyway, I'll tell you first about Erk and then the others." he began, "Erk came to me after I left a meeting of the highest ranking mages of Etruria. I was Mage General at the time." there was a bit of a twinkle in his eye as he continued, "I have no idea where he came from or how he knew who I was, but as I walked through the snowy streets of Aquleia, I heard a young voice behind me ask me if I was indeed Pent of Reglay. I turned around and there was a boy, no older than twelve." Pent laughed, "In fact, you two look much like he did at that age… except for the hair. Anyway, he was underfed, dirty, and cold. He wasted no time and showed me his abilities. He cast a fire spell easily. It was a simple task, but most pupils of his age wouldn't be able to conjure a fireball that quickly or easily. He never told me where he did come from, but I knew silently that he didn't have anywhere to go, and somehow he was now asking for me to teach him.

"Of course, I accepted. I mean, it would be the act of purest cruelty, not to mention stupidity because of his talent, to deny his request." continued Pent, Lugh and Lleu both gazed at him with a similar look of pure interest in each of their eyes. Pent smiled, took a sip of tea, and continued, "I returned here at night and presented Erk to Louise."

"Might if I continue from here, my love?" asked Louise.

"I wouldn't dream of not doing so, my dear." replied Pent.

"I remember when Lord Pent presented Erk to me… very clearly," she said, smiling at the memory, "But he wouldn't eat, he wouldn't sleep. He shut himself up in his room, reading and reading as much as humanly possible. Eventually, he collapsed from exhaustion."

"At that point," chimed in Pent, "I paid more attention to his study schedule and I spent more time with him… After a while, it seemed so much like he was my own son with the joy I felt when he would see and experience each and every new wonder I'd show him." Klein and Clarine listened intently… to them it was like learning of a long lost brother they never knew…

"But he never really thought of us as his parents, though," mused Louise, "We adopted him formally into our family, we gave him love, but he never considered us more than his teacher and his teacher's wife."

Pent looked at the floor, leaning forward with his tea cup in hand, "At the very least, though, to him, we were his only friends. That is, of course, until he went off on a journey to further his training when he was 15."

"You all, except Hugh perhaps," added Louise, "Wouldn't remember it, but about twenty years ago, a dark druid named Nergal tried to open the Dragon's Gate on Valor to harvest dragons for quintessence."

"…I think I've heard of that." said Lugh, "Lleu told me."

"The harvesting of quintessence is a bit… dastardly, even for a druid," remarked Lleu, "At least that's what Hugh's Grandma Niime said when she told me about it…"

"Yes," agreed Pent, "Well, that little war with the Black Fang was how he met Nino, your mother."

"Our mom?" asked Lugh.

"Hmmm," said Pent through his sip of tea, "Your mother was part of the Black Fang."

"No way!" exclaimed Lugh, "Mom was one of the bad guys?"

"Calm down," reassured Pent, "At one point in our journey, she was convinced to join our army by Eliwood or Lyndis… I can't remember… Anyway, the love between Nino and Erk started during that time. Originally, it started with Erk teaching her how to read, as she couldn't… It still amazes me how she cast magic without even being able to read… Well, anyway, when Erk returned with us to Reglay, he brought Nino along too. They stayed with us for a few years, training and honing their skills, before they wed in this castle and they eloped to Pherae. That was nearly 16 years ago. When I heard they went missing, I tried to go to Pherae to inquire about their twin sons, that's you two, but you'd already gone missing as well… it wasn't until recently that I found out Lucius, you called him Father, had you two the whole time… hiding you from whatever took your parents."

"You knew Father?" asked Chad.

"Lucius was another member of our army," explained Pent, "After the war, he set up an orphanage… you lads know the rest. Had I known, you'd all be in my care now… I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Lleu, "If we didn't go to Father's orphanage, we wouldn't have met Chad or the little ones… our own family."

Chad stole a glance at Lleu, not believing what came out of Lleu's mouth. "So anyway," piped up Hugh, "What about my dad?"

"Oh, yes, Canas," said Pent with a sentimental smile, "He was an interesting fellow. His curiosity knew no bounds… we became good friends in the war, actually-"

Pent's talk was cut short, however, by three knocks at the door. The knockers outside were huge metal pieces, and their booming bang echoed throughout the manor. Pent's head turned slowly toward the entrance hall, he being quite surprised and a bit startled. "Well," said Pent, matter-of-factly and a bit absentmindedly, "There appears to be someone at the door."

"On a… spooky, stormy night like this?" asked Lleu, a bit scared.

"Oh, come on, Lleu," said his brother encouragingly, "We went against dragons and Bern's standing army, what could a little someone at the door be to us?"

A further knock, only one, was heard. "I'll get it," said Klein, "Seeing as I'm the bravest soul here… except mother and father, of course."

"He is his father's son," whispered Louise to Pent, who chuckled.

Klein walked down the dark, cold hallway of the entrance hall and opened the door, "Father!" he cried from the door, "It's a man, and he's not in good condition!"

The eight remaining people in the sitting room got up immediately. Hugh, Pent, and Lugh all conjured a small ball of fire to illuminate the hall as every candle in it had been blown out by the wind of the door opening. At the entrance was indeed a man, collapsed in a lump on the stone floor just inside the doorway as he had just stumbled in before collapsing. Klein closed the door and everyone stood around the collapsed man. Pent knelt and turned the man over on his back. His cloak was soaked with rain and blood and was ripped nearly to shreds. Even with three balls of fire, it was hard to make out his face.

Pent knelt close to his face, his fireball close, before he withdrew quickly and stood. "It… It can't be…" he said, his voice shaking with fright. Even in the poor light, one could see his pale with fright face. A look of pure shock, as if he'd just seen a ghost, had fallen upon his face.

The man opened his bloodshot purple eyes only just barely, "Lord Pent…" he said weakly, his voice hoarse and barely above a whisper, "Nino…" he passed out.

"Pent," said Louise to her husband, forgetting momentarily to put the word 'Lord' before his name, "Who is this man?"

Pent gulped, still in shock, "…None other than… Erk of Reglay."

Needless to say, there was a great gasp of shock from everyone except Pent. "Clarine," said Pent to his daughter, his senses returning to him, "Wake the attendants. Get him in a room and start healing him immediately."

* * *

><p>The Doctor: Dun-dun-dunnnn! *Ahem* But, yes, a shorter chapter... I tend to begin and end chapters where cliffhangers lay without compromising the flow too much... so in short, some chapters will be long, others will be shorter... I'd love to hear what you think of this thusfar; because...<p>

Ewan: Your review we wish to hear...

Doc: ...so come on, there's little to fear!

Raven: How many of those _rhymes_ do you two have?


	4. A Joyous Reunion

The Doctor: A most sincere thank you to Sentenel07 for reviewing. Now, here is Chapter Three, the introduction of another of our major characters.

Ewan: So Pent, Clarine, and all them aren't major characters?

Doc: No, there just here for the first few chapters. The same thing for Raven, Pricilla, and a few others.

Raven: Really?

Doc: Yes, but don't worry, I'll do something or other with you in it eventually.

Raven: Hmm... I'll hold you to your word, then.

Doc: Yes, you shall. Anyway, our latest character may (or may not) be somewhat OOC, but since this is twenty years after FE7, he will undoubtibly have changed/evolved in character. Pent hasn't changed much because he's badass like that.

Raven: A very logical reason.

Doc: Quite. Now, on with the chapter!

* * *

><p>Chapter Three<p>

A Joyful Reunion

The twins sat on a stone bench outside the bedroom their father had been taken into. The others had gone to bed at the twin's insistence. They reassured their friends that they would be fine and that they just wanted to be near their father. It was now well past midnight. The storm had passed, leaving the boys in near complete silence in the dark. Both were still shocked. After 9 years, they found out their father was alive the whole time. Clearly, he had an interesting story to tell to explain where he'd been the last 9 years, and just judging by the fact that he was injured and beat up, they could tell he hadn't come from a good place. Clarine had taken it upon herself to heal Erk, insisting despite her father's wishes to heal him, and had been at it for hours. She let no one, not even Erk's sons, see him, telling them he needed rest above all else.

"I still don't believe it." remarked Lleu quietly.

"What's there to disbelieve?" asked Lugh, "He's in there right now. Our father."

"It's just…" Lleu trailed off.

"What?" asked Lugh, looking at his brother.

"Remember when you asked me whether or not I remembered mom and dad?" asked Lleu.

"Sure." replied Lugh.

"Well… I lied," said Lleu, "The truth is, I do remember them. Everything about them. I guess what's weird about all this now is that I've lived most of my life thinking my parents were dead, that I was less than everybody else because I had no parents. And now my own father is inside that room… It's like I just wasted all those years thinking my parents are dead… You know what I mean?"

"Yeah I do." remarked Lugh, "I may be innocent and happy on the outside, but you know me better, Lleu. Deep down I thought I was less than everyone else too. But, you know, things have changed. Our dad's here. He's in that room right now. That's the fact. As true a fact in our heads right now as he being dead and gone was yesterday. Personally, I'm going to rejoice that he's here, that we were wrong and he is alive. I'm going to give him the biggest hug I've given. Because he's my dad and I haven't seen him in nine years. And Lleu," he looked his brother beside him right in the eye, "You are most welcome to join me."

"…Yeah," agreed Lleu, a warm smile coming upon his face, "You're right, Lugh. That's exactly what I'm going to do."

Presently, Clarine came out of the room, wiping the sweat off of her brow. "How is he?" asked Lugh hopefully.

Clarine looked at the twins, "He still needs a lot of healing. I think he's been tortured, sadly enough. Incredibly, he's gonna be fine. But I'm sorry, I must rest or I'll exhaust my magical energy completely."

Lugh nodded, "We understand. We'll heal him from now on, right Lleu?"

"Of course." stated Lleu.

"I'll leave you two to it, then. There should be plenty of staves in there, just don't use the more powerful ones. He needs to slowly heal, too much too fast could only make his injuries worse." she said with a weary smile before she walked tiredly down the hall towards her room.

The lads looked at each other before entering the room. It was surprisingly well lit. An orb of magical light hovered near the ceiling and bathed the room in a whitish-blue light. It was a room dedicated to healing, apparently. Healing staves of various potencies lined the walls in a wrap around staff rack. A single bed lay with the head against the wall opposite to the door. In it was Lugh and Lleu's father, Erk. For the first time since Erk's return, the twins got a good look at their father's face.

Grey locks filled his shoulder-lengthed purple hair. His face was a little wrinkled, but his defined features were unchanged. He'd been washed and shaven except for a purple goatee on his chin. He wore a cotton tunic and trousers as he lay unconscious. He looked like he'd aged twenty years since the twins last saw him, but there was no doubt, that was their dad in that bed. The cuts all over his body were not nearly as bad as they were when Erk arrived, but Clarine was right, he still needed to heal. Lugh selected a heal staff from the collection and passed another to his brother. The two moved to opposite sides of the bed and began chanting in unison. As they chanted, the faint blue glow from their staves grew into a soft and peaceful pulsating light.

* * *

><p>Erk was dreaming, or rather thinking, in his unconscious mind. It'd been a long time since he'd seen the outside world, even if he was out for a few weeks by now. Somehow, someway, he'd made it to Reglay. He was so near passing out from injury and exhaustion that he wasn't sure if he was dreaming at some points in his long journey there. It'd been a long time of torture and pain. But Nino, his beloved, was there with him. She was there to keep him going, and in Erk's mind, he figured that doing so kept her going too.<p>

Nino. The woman that had shown him that there was a world outside to see, touch, feel, smell, and taste. The woman that showed him the joy and happiness of the world, of all things good. The woman that saved him from a booky fate. That is, he figured he'd end up locked away in a library somewhere in Etruria, never leaving, never stopping his studies, until his hair turned grey. It was with her that he vowed to raise a family. He settled down in Pherae and built a house near the sea. They had two boys, twins, whom they named Lugh and Lleu. He loved his family. He loved his beautiful wife and twin sons. He never wanted to leave. Each day was a gift, a blessing. But, it seemed, it couldn't last. Nino disappeared suddenly in the night. Days later, Erk went after her. Thus began the nightmare. But even in a nightmare, she was there. When they were reunited weeks later, it was joyful despite the circumstances. They were tortured, they were beaten, they were truly in a nightmare, but Nino preserved and Nino was strong for him the entire time. He was incredibly thankful for and dearly loved his wife… which was why he needed to go back for her…

Erk felt his mind move further into consciousness. Somebody was over him, healing his body. He could feel the calm, pulsating energy that came from two heal staves. It was familiar and welcome, like the ocean's surf going back and forth. He assumed it was Pent or one of Pent's students healing him, but he really didn't know, seeing as he hadn't seen Pent in sometime. Then again, he didn't know if Pent was alive. He didn't even know how long he was a prisoner. He trusted that someone had recognized him, seeing as he was being healed now. He decided it was time to open his eyes. Over him were two green haired boys of about 13. They were twins. As his purple eyes opened more, he recognized their faces. His twin sons were standing over him, holding staves. At that moment, Erk realized just how long he was away.

"He's awake!" declared Lugh… Erk was sure it was Lugh.

Erk sat up, discovering he was now fairly well healed. He felt stronger than he'd felt in years. He spoke, and discovered his voice had returned, "My sons…" Lugh and Lleu put down their staves, climbed onto the sides of the bed, and hugged their father. They held on tight, as if they'd never let their father go now. Erk returned their hugs with just as much care and love, "I've missed you both terribly… I'm sorry."

"It's going to be alright now, dad." said Lugh with confidence.

"We thought you were dead." said Lleu. Tears of past sadness and of current joy began falling from his face. "You and momma… dead."

"I'm sorry," repeated Erk, a tear forming in his eye, "I truly am. I should have been there for you two."

"You can't change that," reassured Lugh, "But we'll be alright now, won't we, Lleu?"

Lleu sniffled and nodded, "Yeah. I'm so glad to see you again, dad."

"I thought I'd never get to see you two again," remarked Erk, "I must truly be blessed." Father and twin sons held each other for a while, as if to make up for nine year's worth of hugs.

After a long time, Erk spoke up, "There's something I must tell you, but I'll wait. If my assumption is correct, both of you must've been healing me for hours. You both must be exhausted."

"Yeah…" admitted Lugh.

"Then you should rest, as should I." said Erk.

"Alright," agreed Lugh. He gave his father one last hug before climbing off the bed. "Coming Lleu?"

Lleu held onto his father for a bit more before saying, "I'm happy you're alive, dad."

"I'm happy to be alive, Lleu." responded Erk, "Now go, join your brother. I'll be here when you get back, rest assured."

"Goodnight, dad." said Lugh.

"Goodnight my sons, and thank you for healing me." said Erk.

The twins exited the room, leaving Erk alone. He relaxed back into his bed. He was physically healed, but still exhausted. He drifted off to sleep fairly quickly.

Lugh and Lleu entered their bedroom and prepared for bed. Lleu was unusually quiet, even for him. Lugh decided to ask, "What's on your mind?"

"It's him. He was alive the whole time. There is no doubt about that." said Lleu to his brother as he sat on his bed, "It's just…" he sighed, "Where was he? Why did he leave us like that? Is momma even alive? Where is she?"

"You saw those wounds on his body when we started. And that was only after Clarine healed him for four hours." replied Lugh, seated on his own bed, looking at the ground before him, "He didn't do those to himself. He was tortured and hurt… I'll bet he was locked away for all these years."

"…That'd be awful if that were me," admitted Lleu, "I hope he'll tell us."

"I've no doubt he will," replied Lugh as he climbed under the covers of his bed, "Goodnight, Lleu."

" 'Night, Lugh," said Lleu.

* * *

><p>The Doctor: Lleu may seem a little OOC from here on out too... But that's because I'm having him grow out of his angst, or rather come to terms with it. I like to think he's really no different from any other one his age, he's on a journey of self discovery.<p>

Raven: That's quite cosmic.

Doc: Yes it is. Lugh might be a little more mature too... but I think that's more compared to how the fans portray him than how FE6 itself portrays him. I tried to make him more genuinely caring rather than all "rainbows and unicorns".

Ewan: I'm not all "Rainbows and Unicorns" either, Doc.

Doc: Precisely. It's with no offense to anyone, but that's just how I feel he's portrayed sometimes...

Raven: You'll get put over the rack for that one, Doc.

Doc: Shut up. Oh, and also on Erk's thoughts there (particularly the "booky fate" bit); that was based on "The Winter of our Discontent" by weighed and measured... one could say that story was so depresing (although _quite_ excelent) that I decided to make this fic. Read it and you'll know what I mean.

Ewan: Review this please...

Doc: ...must I get down on my knees?

Raven: How long are you two going to keep that up?


	5. Erk's Recovery

The Doctor: Well, a very happy thank you to Asherien, Solyeuse, kageshoujo, and... Anonymous for reviewing. You all are far too kind... really... like wow.

Raven: You can tell he's quite shocked.

Ewan: Well, so what if he is!

Doc: Behave, the lot of you. Anyway, to answer your question Anonymous (whomever you may be): I'd much rather leave Erk's altered appearence up to one's imagination... that and I think describing each and every wrinkle on Erk's face is a wee bit too... creepily meticulous, don't you?

Raven: Seems logical... I guess.

Doc: This chapter is really quite long, but like I said, I break my chapters based on cliffhangers and other places where I think it'll end well...

Ewan: You forgot something, Doc...

Doc: Oh yeah! Sorry, I forgot for the last chapter too, damn! Okay: I don't own Fire Emblem because if I did, Raven, Priscilla (thanks to Solyeuse for pointing that out...), Pent, Louise, Dorcas, and Eliwood would play an active role in FE6, or at least we'd hear of their fates...

Raven: Yeah, seriously, what _is_ up with that?

Doc: You'll find out soon enough here... _Rave!_

Raven: DON'T CALL ME 'RAVE!'

Doc: Hahahahaha... now for the chapter...

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

Erk's Recovery

Erk awoke. He didn't know what time of day it was, seeing as the healing room he was in didn't have any outdoor windows and the only light came from the magical orb hovering near the ceiling. He stretched his form on the bed. Most of the bones in his body had previously been broken and mended incorrectly, making it hard for him to do anything particularly athletic or even stretch, but, it seemed, all that was fixed. His body felt strong and healed, like after getting over a sickness but the sensation was hundreds of times stronger. Quite frankly, he felt like a million gold at that moment. While his body was better, his mind was still troubled by something. He sat up on the side of the bed and thought.

He had his sons on his mind. Erk was not aware anywhere near that amount of time had passed. His boys weren't men yet, but they were quite a lot older now. His greatest fears diminished fairly quickly when they embraced their old dad almost immediately, but how would they take their father being slammed back into their lives, especially after he being thought dead?

The door opened and in stepped Pent. "Lord Pent," said Erk. Amazingly, the man hadn't aged a day, unlike Erk.

"Hello Erk," smiled Pent, "Fantastic to see you again, all things considering."

"The same here, Lord Pent," replied Erk.

"Come, get dressed for the day," said Pent, laying a set of clothing suitable for a mage down on the bed, "You've many questions, I'm sure, so let us talk more in the gardens." With that, Lord Pent exited the room.

"He hasn't changed at all…" thought Erk aloud, "How _does _that man do that?" He smiled to himself and pulled on the tunic, trousers, and cloak Pent had given him. The cloak bared a great resemblance to the cloak he wore years ago when he was in Eliwood's army back when he was only 15. It suited him, the red cloak, even if it wasn't quite _the_ cloak he had a long time ago. He pulled on the boots Pent had provided and walked out of the room. Outside, the manor hadn't changed much, the stone corridors and hallways seemed exactly the way he remembered them. He walked outside into the vast gardens surrounding the castle. They hadn't changed either. Of course, the bushes, shrubs, flowers, and the like were rearranged, but the general layout of the garden was the same, with the same paths and benches exactly where they were 20 years before.

Erk took in the smells of the summer in the garden, of the many things growing, of the grass and flowers. He walked out into the garden and felt the warmth of the sun. He saw all the flowers, a rainbow of color elegantly arranged. He felt a cool breeze blow past him, making his cloak fly a bit. He smiled and closed his eyes, looking toward the sun and letting it's warmth fill him. It was the loveliest experience he'd had in nine years… it felt like a relief after an eternity. He opened his eyes and spotted Lord Pent seated on one of the stone benches, reading a tome. Erk approached and sat next to his former master.

Pent closed his book and turned to Erk. "Feel a bit better?" asked Pent with a pleasant smile.

"Much better, Lord Pent." nodded Erk.

"I'm glad for that, Erk." said Pent, putting a compassionate hand on the younger's shoulder. He eyed the younger man's face and altered appearance. He looked at least ten years older than he ought to be with the grey locks integrated into his deep purple hair. "What's happened to you, Erk?" he asked with fatherly concern.

"Tonight, I shall tell you all my full story." explained Erk, "'Tis a very long and sad one, I'm afraid, but you have the right to know, especially because it isn't over yet, Lord Pent." he gazed seriously into Pent's purple eyes. "I'll tell you now, though, it was not pleasant." he looked away, in thought, "For now, though, I think I should spend some time catching up with my sons… they've gotten so big."

Pent chuckled, "That they did. It kind of happens." he looked over to where his son and daughter were talking with their friends in another part of the garden, "Of course, for most of their lives they thought you were dead."

"I know," said Erk sadly, looking towards the ground.

"I'm sorry, Erk. When you disappeared, they were taken to an orphanage that even I couldn't find. It was only yesterday when I met them all and learned of their past. It was only then that I found out Lucius had raised them." remarked Pent, "Had I'd known where they were, I would've adopted them in an instant."

Erk nodded, "I had no doubt, Lord Pent. Lucius raised them, you say? How's he doing?"

"He got killed in the war…" trailed off Pent, "A lot of our old colleagues were killed in the war, Hector, Rath, I'm not sure about some… Many died in the war and causality reports are still sketchy."

"I'm so sorry… I wish I could've been there." said Erk.

"They're in a better place now, I've no doubt." remarked Pent, "And your sons survived with the rest of the orphans. See." he pointed to where Lugh, Lleu, and Chad were. They were telling a story to four younger children seated on the grass. Cath and Hugh were nearby and watching.

"Who's that other lad?" asked Erk, pointing at Chad.

"That would be Chad," replied Pent, "He's a… well, a thief, as he told me. He's a month or two older than Lugh and Lleu. They're like three brothers, they are, having grown up together in the same orphanage. And not to mention saving each other's bottoms whist the war was on."

"They fought in the war?" asked Erk, thoroughly surprised.

"Didn't I mention that?" asked Pent, "I guess not… Yes, they did, all three of them."

"But they're only 13!" exclaimed Erk, "That's far too young to be fighting in a war."

"You were 15 when you fought in our little war, Erk," smiled Pent, "And Nino was 14... Besides, they survived, all three of them, didn't they?"

"I guess so…" admitted Erk, "I guess I'm just now very proud of my boys, that's all."

Pent laughed, "That's how I feel about Klein and Clarine, even if they're 19 and 16 now..."

Erk nodded, "I'm glad to be able to be a father again, Lord Pent… it was awful being away from them…" he trailed off. Erk was silent for a few seconds before he indicated Hugh and Cath, "Who are those two? I've noticed them hanging around Lugh and Lleu."

"Well, the taller one with purple hair is Hugh, the son of Canas." replied Pent.

"Oh really?" asked Erk, interested, "I didn't recognize him… he was about 8 when we last met. He's my cousin-in-law. I wonder if he recognized me?" he chuckled, "Who's the girl?"

"That's Cath… also a thief." explained Pent, "She's a good friend of Hugh, Chad, and the twins… And she kind of hates nobles." finished Pent a bit sheepishly.

"She's like the cheery thief that steals from the rich and gives to the needy?" asked Erk.

"Spot on." laughed Pent, "I guess it's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

"Painfully so," remarked Erk. They let out a chuckle before Erk remarked, "They seem like nice people."

"That they are." agreed Pent.

Erk looked on, but then tilted his head in thought, "Well, they all fought in the war, I see… but, what about you? What'd you do during the war?"

"Well, Louise and I tried to stay out," admitted Pent, "I guess our ignorance kind of cost us more than it should have, though. Ever since I retired from the office of Mage General, I've at least tried to enjoy my retirement… and not really care about the world outside. So imagine my surprise when one day I found that a battalion of Bernese troops showed up at my door demanding food, supplies, and my coffers or they'd torch the manor. They even had the guts to call me 'Etrurian scum' in their typical Bernese fashion of insulting people just because they can." he rolled his eyes, completely laid back as he recounted the story.

"So what happened?" asked Erk.

"Oh, I told them to get the bloody hell off my property, they spat at that, and I set them all on fire. I'm sure that was a sight for all my students to behold." Pent replied, "But seriously, I learned my lesson, Louise too. I was so enraged by the incident that I took off for Aquleia and demanded an explanation. It was only then that I learned that Bern had annexed Ilia and Sacae and had been chewing through Lycia and worse, our government was midway through a coup d'etat. Of course, I learned it all after the fact. Roy had already straightened out the government and was midway through liberating Ilia at the time."

"That's pretty awesome on your part, wiping out a whole battalion yourself." remarked Erk with a smirk.

Pent nodded and continued, "That it was… but it's not something I'm terribly proud of either." he said melancholically, "As I said, I learned my lesson, I can't really hide away from the world unless I go someplace like Arcadia. I at least have my duties here that I enjoy performing… so moving to Arcadia isn't an option until I pass the manor to Klein at least." he sighed, "I paid the price for my ignorance too… a lot of our old friends are dead and I didn't help out when I could have."

"Neither of us can change the past," remarked Erk, "All we can do is learn how to live with it."

"Did I teach you that?" asked Pent curiously.

"Probably." replied Erk. The two men laughed heartily at this and Erk's gaze returned to his children.

* * *

><p>"…and that's how we three helped defeat a monstrous dragon." finished Lugh.<p>

"Wow!" exclaimed the little ones in amazement, "That's cool!"

The three smiled. "Now run off and play in the gardens," said Lleu, "We three need to talk."

"Okay!" said one of the boys as the children ran off into the gardens.

"What did you want to talk about?" asked Chad.

"Well," began Lugh, "You know our dad's back now…"

"Yeah," nodded Chad sadly, "I know."

"Are you alright with that?" asked Lleu curiously.

"…I never knew my parents," admitted Chad. "You guys know I was dumped in a basket in front of Father's orphanage when I was a baby… I never had a father or a mother to cuddle with when I was little. You guys did."

"Well… that's true, I guess." said Lugh grimly, "But you know, you've been our best friend since we arrived at the orphanage."

"Yeah," agreed Lleu, "I guess it's true… You've been our brother, Chad."

Chad nodded, "I know… we are brothers." he said reassuringly.

"You just feel left out now that our dad's alive?" asked Lugh.

"It's stuff that's out of my control," Chad told the twins, "…I have to accept it." He ran off without a word. He headed over to the little ones and started playing with them.

"…He does feel left out," commented Lugh.

"Yeah, you think?" Lleu said sarcastically, "His two best friends, his brothers, now have their family back like magic and he doesn't. I'd be left out if I was in his position."

"…What if we adopted him?" asked Lugh to his brother.

"Adopted him?" asked Lleu in surprise, "He's pushing 14, Lugh, he's a little old to be adopted."

"Well, not really," replied Lugh, "We're already really his brothers, it would only be official."

Lleu tilted his head in thought, "Dad'll have to get to know him first," he said wisely. He discreetly watched Chad. The little ones were frolicking through the gardens while Chad stood up against a pillar and watched pensively. He seemed sad and melancholy.

"Hey little cousins." said Hugh from behind the twins. Soon his towering figure was looming over the green haired lads.

Lleu looked up at the newcomer and then Lugh, "Hey, big cousin!" Lugh said enthusiastically. Lugh was ecstatic to know that Hugh was his big cousin. It was like having a big brother he never had. Even before he knew Hugh was his family, he looked up to the tall, purple haired mage like a big brother. Hugh had been friendly to Lugh and the two became good friends. They both learned from each other a bit of their magical studies, first Hugh taught Lugh, then Lugh taught Hugh when Lugh became a sage. Now Lugh was Hugh's little cousin, once removed. Lugh just hoped his twin could like Hugh.

Lleu was warming up to Hugh. The lad had stolen Hugh's Nosferatu book when they'd first met over a year ago. When he studied with Hugh's grandma, Niime made him give back that particular Nosferatu tome to her. She'd taught him a little manners… the hard way… and he learned well. Because Lugh was friends with Hugh, Lleu began warming up to Hugh. The catalyst was that both could relate to dealing with Niime. Over time, Lleu learned to like Hugh and all his quirkiness for being nine years older and supposedly wiser. Lleu supposed Hugh being his cousin wasn't too bad, maybe even kind of fun when he got to tease him…

"How are you guys doing?" Hugh asked.

"Oh, we're fine," replied Lugh.

"Have you met our dad before?" asked Lleu. He had a hunch, but he had to ask.

Hugh laughed nervously, "When I was 8... He's a nice guy, I guess."

"Well, he is our dad." commented Lleu.

"…Where's Cath?" asked Lugh.

"Why, right behind you." said Cath from behind the three. A huge clever smile was plastered on her face. The three jumped to Cath's delight.

"Ha, thought you could trick me, could you?" asked a slightly deeper voice behind her. It was Cath's turn to jump.

Chad appeared behind Cath with his own clever grin on his face. He quickly grabbed a set of lock picks from her belt, "No. My lock picks. Mine." he scolded, "You're not going to rob a nice guy like Lord Pent."

"Oh come on, please Chad?" she asked pleadingly, trying to grab the lock picks out of his hand.

"No, Cath," said Chad firmly, "Especially after what he did for us, looking after the little ones and all… He owns a whole mage school in his house and takes in magically inclined orphans… he's more charitable than you are."

"You… You didn't mean that, did you Chad?" asked Cath, somewhat hurt.

Chad took one look at Cath's big, glossy, sympathetic eyes and rolled his own pair, "…No… you are pretty charitable." he admitted, "But you're still not going to rob Lord Pent and that's final." he scolded quickly, crossing his arms.

"…Dang it!" said Cath, her plan foiled. She sighed, "C'mon, Hugh… I'm gonna pester you instead if I can't open up a big ol' chest full of gold." She grabbed Hugh's hand and practically dragged him into the castle.

"What?" asked Hugh absent-mindedly, "No, wait! Hey! Where are you taking me now, Cath? …Cath? …Cath?" his voice disappeared as he got further into the castle.

The three looked at each other and laughed. Their laughter took them back to a simpler time, before the war. They seemed only now to fully realize that it was over, they could go back to having fun, "We've got a goofy pair of friends… that's for sure," said Lugh. He was happy to see Chad in good spirits again after looking so glum just a few minutes before.

"Definitely," nodded Lleu.

"I just hope Cath doesn't do anything too horrible to Hugh…" commented Chad.

Lugh looked out onto the garden and noticed Lord Pent and Erk on one of the stone benches, "Hey, dad's awake!" he declared. He turned to Chad, "C'mon, Chad, I want you to meet him too."

* * *

><p>"Well, have fun, Erk," said Pent, "You're free now. Spend the day with your children. Tonight, we'll all gather and discuss what had happened." He got up to leave and clapped his hand on Erk's shoulder, "It's great having you back, Erk."<p>

"It's marvelous being back, Lord Pent." said Erk. Pent left, but Erk wasn't alone too long. His sons arrived along with Chad. "Ah, hello my sons." Erk smiled warmly.

"Hey dad!" his twin sons said in unison, hugging their father before seating themselves on either side of their father.

"And you must be Chad," said Erk with a warm smile.

"Hello, sir," said Chad politely. He'd heard a bit of Erk from what Lugh and Lleu, mostly Lugh, had told him. Chad could tell Erk was a kind and gentle man. Had Chad known Erk twenty years earlier, he would've thought differently, but Erk had grown up since then. Fatherhood had softened him up a bit and had nurtured his caring side. And even nine years of a nasty fate hadn't taken that from him.

"I'd like to thank you, Chad," said Erk, "For looking after Lugh and Lleu all the years I was gone. For being their friend... For being their brother. I don't know you too well yet, but I'd like to get to know you better, lad." he offered his hand to shake.

Chad shook Erk's hand politely. He seemed all the nice man his brothers had told him he was. He looked withered with his grey locks and slightly wrinkled face, Chad didn't need to have known him before to tell that, but Erk did have a kind of benevolence he'd rarely seen before in most adults… except perhaps Father…

Erk stood, still being over a foot taller than Lugh, Lleu, and Chad, "Well lads, we've a lot to catch up on, don't we?" he indicated the path leading on through the grounds of Reglay, "Let's take a walk."

The four of them talked for hours as they strolled the gardens. The boys talked of their orphanage and the adventures they had together when they were younger. They talked of their experiences in the war, how all three of them became strong fighters of great skill and how their brotherly bond grew ever stronger. That conversation lead Lugh and Lleu to the subject of the Divine Weapons.

"You both got to wield Forblaze and Apocalypse?" asked Erk in disbelief.

"…We kinda still have them even now," said Lleu sheepishly.

"And they let you keep them?" asked Erk suspiciously.

"Uh… Not exactly, no." replied Lleu again in the same sheepish tone.

"Are you angry with us, dad?" asked Lugh sadly.

Erk laughed, "No, my sons." he replied, "I'm very proud of you. Both of you boys mastered arts that took other men hundreds of years. If you're concerned if some will get angry that you've stolen tomes, don't worry. I met both Brammond and Athos when I was 15. Both wouldn't mind if a pair of eager young minds, such as yourselves, got their books. Much better you two than the greedy old sages that roam the lands. Besides, Athos is now dead, he's no use for his tome. As for Brammond, well, he's still around, believe it or not. The simple fact that he had his tome out in the open at the Shrine of Seals for someone to so easily take is testament that he really doesn't need it anymore. Those are your tomes now, sons. Cherish them."

"Wow." said Lugh, barely able to comprehend the awesomeness of the situation, "Cool."

"Very cool." nodded Lleu. He tugged on his father's sleeve and leaned into Erk's ear after he'd lowered himself to Lleu's level. "I'd like to have a private word about that later, dad." Erk nodded, understanding. Lleu had been thinking deeply ever since he got his Divine Weapon. Lleu had told Lugh about it, but it bothered him still. Lleu knew the dark magics were very dangerous. Niime had taught him of them. Three of her sons lived in a comma, if it could be called that. She explained that they were awake and asleep like normal, but they didn't have any will, any want to move, to live their lives, to even eat without force feeding. They lay there, on their beds and motionless because they couldn't handle the overwhelming darkness. Brammond was the only man who ever was rumored to return from the other side of the dark with his will intact, but at a nearly equally heavy price, he lost himself. Brammond ceased to be a man, or any gender for that matter. He ceased to have a personality of his own, he only echoed that of the one addressing him. It was a heavy price, Niime had said, but at least he had eternal youth and free will, to an extent. Brammond needed to 'rest', he had to converse with the dark for long periods before he could go anywhere or do anything. Sometimes it was weeks, sometimes it was whole years when he'd sit, indifferent, in the center of his chamber in Bern, doing absolutely nothing, like Niime's sons.

Lleu wasn't so sure about that. Not only was the risk high that he'd end up just a mass of flesh with no will, but even the reward for traversing such a dark successfully was questionable. Niime had somehow done it, she was a century old and had great knowledge of the dark. Nergal, as evil as he was, was also clearly with will and even had a nasty dark tome of his own design to prove his mastery of dark sorcery. Lleu asked Niime about her personal experience with the matter. The truth was, she'd never dared cross into the dark, the same thing happened with Nergal, she theorized. Her strong will had starved off any of that, she'd claim. She used the dark, she worked with it, but she never was foolish enough, or perhaps bold enough to actually traverse the dark and see the other side. Lleu knew what she had to fight in order to keep her will intact, the more dark magic one uses, the stronger the temptation is to cross the veil of darkness. There were even voices begging for someone to cross the veil.

Apocalypse was a weird spell, however. Instead of making the voices of darkness scream and beg louder and more persuadingly, it silenced them. That was why it was called, 'The Silencing Darkness', it pleased the voices and actually made them shut up. Lleu was grateful for that, most certainly. But he still wasn't sure he wanted to even try becoming like Brammond, especially if the Archsage Athos could wield dark magic as good as any druid. Deep down inside, Lleu thought I'd be more fun to be a superpowerful archsage with his brother than a secluded phantom and that would only be if he was lucky. Lleu nodded to himself slightly absentmindedly.

Erk turned his attention to Chad, "So, Chad, you're older than Lugh and Lleu?"

"Yeah," replied Chad. His voice cracked and his face turned red.

Erk laughed kindly, "It's alright, lad, I had to go through that too, the pain in the neck that it was."

Chad grinned sheepishly and cleared his throat, "Yeah," he repeated, "I don't know my exact birthday, but the date I chose for it is about a week from now." Chad just realized that, "I'll be 14 years old in a week."

"Oh... yeah…" said Lugh and Lleu in unison. They looked at each other, realizing they'd forgotten.

Erk laughed, "Well Happy Birthday in advance, Chad." he said to Chad, patting the lad on the shoulder.

"Thank you," said Chad, "You two had better get me something cool, by the way." He gave the twins a shrewd stare.

Both Lugh and Lleu grinned sheepishly at Chad. Lugh cleared his throat and said, "So, dad, how'd you come to Reglay?"

"Ah," Erk began, "I was born in Aquleia to a very poor couple. They had me, an only child. I lived in horrible conditions, a crowded and tiny apartment on the top floor of a domus in the slummy part of the city. When I was 8 years old, a terrible plague ravaged the city. The rich, even those not so rich, could afford to be cured by healers of the church, but my parents got the disease and couldn't afford treatment.

"They died," continued Erk, "And I was dieing of the plague too, but an orphanage ran by the church managed to cure me before I died. I lived at that orphanage for three years. I discovered my magical talent there and learned anima magic. The conditions there were poor, I had no friends nor living relatives, and no one there was kind to me." The three boys looked at Erk, they'd been in a similar situation too. "So, I ran away. I'd heard of Pent of Reglay during my studies and I was ambitious to be his student. Lord Pent was well known as the greatest mage in Etruria at the time. I waited for him to come to the city and I lived in the streets for a year or so. When he finally came, I was able to get his attention as he was leaving. I showed him my fire spell and he took me in."

Erk looked away pensively, "I never told Lord Pent where I came from because I was ashamed of my past." he looked down at the lads, "I'm sorry, Lugh and Lleu. I was orphaned as a boy… I wanted to be there for you two, but terrible things out of my control happened and I ended up orphaning you… well, apparently orphaning you two anyway."

"Don't be sad, dad," said Lugh.

"You're with us now, dad," said Lleu. He hugged his father affectionately. Lugh was surprised at this to say the least. Lleu hadn't hugged anybody in a very long time, at least as far as Lugh knew. Perhaps his brother had been angry because he was orphaned. Perhaps he was coming to terms with his anger and trying to understand it. Perhaps he was just happy to have his father back. Of course, Lugh would have to ask his brother about it to find out. He noted mentally to do just that in the near future…

"Besides," said Lugh, "If things had happened differently, Chad and we two would've never had known each other."

"Yeah, exactly," agreed Lleu.

Erk smiled, "I'm glad for today, my sons," he looked at the green haired twins that were his beloved sons. He turned to Chad, "And I'm glad to have finally met you, Chad," he nodded cordially, "I'm glad we spent the day together. I'd love to spend more time with you. I will, but now it's about dinnertime and I'm rather famished." he put his hand over his stomach, "Let's eat."

They crossed the gardens and entered the manor. As they walked the stone halls towards the kitchen, they came upon Hugh and Cath. "Cath, give it back, please?" begged Hugh.

"Nope, you haven't begged enough." retorted Cath cheekily.

"Cath, I've been begging for hours. That bag contains all my money, what else would I be doing?" asked Hugh rhetorically. "Please, Cath? C'mon, why are you so mean to me?"

"To put it simply," explained Cath, "You never cease to complain, you hoard your money away like some of the cruelest lords I've stolen from, and you're mildly attractive." she almost giggled girly at the last statement, almost.

"Mildly attractive?" asked Hugh in disbelief, "Mildly attractive? Now that's really unfair! You're what… 12?"

"This is entertaining." Lleu whispered into Lugh's ear.

"I just turned 13, you dork!" she crossed her arms, "And just for that, I think I'll keep this." she held up the bag of gold in her fist. "I was going to give it back to you, but you insulted me, so now you have to learn a lesson." She attached the bag firmly to her belt.

"Learn a… what?" asked Hugh, fairly well completely dumbfounded.

Erk laughed heartily and was soon joined by his sons and Chad. "Well, Hugh, you seem to have grown a good 2 and a half feet since last we met, but you still can complain better than most people of Elibe." Erk said.

Hugh looked to Erk and smiled, "How've you been, cousin?" he asked. He heartily hugged his dear cousin-in-law.

Erk patted Hugh on the back and let go of the hug, "Just fine, young Hugh." he said. He put an arm around each of his sons, both on either side of him. "I hear you've been good to these two?"

Hugh laughed, "Yeah, you could say that… Lugh's a good guy, but Lleu stole my Nosferatu. He never did give that back…"

"Hey, I paid for it… eventually. Besides, your grandma practically picked me up, turned me upside-down, and shook me until the Nosferatu tome fell out… So I basically did what you were gonna do." retorted Lleu.

"Yeah, well, you've grown on me since then and besides, we're cousins." pointed out Hugh.

"Awkwardly, yes." said Lleu.

Erk laughed, "Well, that's good that you know them." he nodded, "Come, I'm starving…"

* * *

><p>The Doctor: Cath... I like Cath, she was really fun to write for here. I think she's the most in-character out of the lot.<p>

Raven: That's up for the reviewers to decide.

Doc: Hmmm... yes. Also, a note on Lugh and Lleu having the Devine Weapons... Well, I dunno 'bout everyone else who played FE6, but yes, Lugh and Lleu were my primary magicans and I got them up to level 20 before promoting them and getting them up again to 20. In game, I gave the Devine tomes to them and watched them dominate admirably. Thus, concider them being basically a lvl 20 Druid and Sage within this fic as well...

Ewan: How could you forget that?

Doc: Better late than never... or whatever. Well, that's all for this chapter. Stay tuned for more. Oh, and...

Ewan: Please submit a review...

Doc: ...I'd love to hear from you.

Raven: *facepalm*


	6. Erk's Tale

The Doctor: Hello again!

Ewan: Hi!

Raven: 'sup!

Doc: A special thanks to Sentinel07, kageshoujo, and Anonymous for reviewing again. You folks are far too kind... like really.

Raven: You can tell he's still in shock.

Doc: And to answer Anonymous... because since that person's anonymous I can't reply to him/her/he/she personally... The first six chapters of this were already writen when I posted this first. Originally, I planed to wait until I finished, but then I decided what the hell and posted regardless of it's completeness... I'm writing feverously to keep ahead of the posting schedule, but you all will know when I've reached the last chapter I've completed when I suddenly don't update nearly as quickly.

Raven: Write fast, hotshot!

Ewan: Don't pay him any mind, Doc, write at your own pace.

Doc: Why thank you, lad. In this chapter we feature Erk's sad sad story, one of the moments you all have been waiting for, yes? It even comes equipt with a flashback with little!Lugh, little!Lleu, little!Roy, and little!Wolt (I guess that's how little kids are described here... fasinating). Don't worry, Wolt, Roy, and Lilina make a proper cameo here later on, should be tons of fun.

Raven: In theory.

Doc: Yes, yes... Oh, one more thing: I don't own Fire Emblem because if I did, FE7 would be more playable after the game (you know, like FE6 had bonus maps, and FE8 was so awesome it had a Creature Campaign so you could continue to play the game and eventually get all the characters up to lvl 20!) and also, the Arena function in FE7 and 8 would be compatible with eachother so Ewan could go up against Raven... or whatever.

Ewan: Yeah!

Raven: You will soon regret that enthusiasm after facing me.

Doc: Meh, whatever... So, on to the Chapter!

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

Erk's Tale

Like the night before, a group of people sat around a circle of plush leather chairs in Lord Pent's and Lady Louise's private sitting room. A fire roared in the fireplace once again, keeping the place warm and calm. But this time Erk sat in the chair opposing the fire, the very chair Pent had been in the night before, apparently it was the de facto story-teller chair. Again, in each of their hands was a piping cup of hot tea, serving to make everything calm and cozy.

Seated in the other chairs was much of the audience that partook in the night before's tale. This time, however, Pent and Louise joined the audience. Lugh and Lleu were there, of course, as was Chad. Hugh was also there, as was Cath. Hugh wanted to know what had happened to the cousin he remembered and his cousin-in-law now seated before him, but Cath really didn't need to be there. She wanted to be there, however. She didn't know Lugh or Lleu too well, only through Chad and Hugh, but she wanted to be there nonetheless.

Erk cleared his throat. His tale wasn't a nice one, it was horrible. He was finding the strength and the courage to tell such a horrible tale. Finally, he managed to gather some gumption and cleared his throat again and a bit nervously. "It'd be easier for me to start from the beginning," he began, "When I first met Nino, I was fascinated by her. She was the only mage I'd ever known that could summon up magical attacks without even being able to read tomes. Her family's heritage was so in tune with the elements of the Anima that she could do such a task. I was fascinated by that, and my fascination brought me to admire her and then I fell in love." there was a sort of twinkle in Erk's eyes as he spoke, "It was something I'd never really encountered before, true love. I was an awkward 15-year-old boy around girls, despite my training as a sage and my vast body of knowledge.

"The feeling was mutual between us and our love grew when she joined me at this manor twenty years ago. We studied for a few years here before we wed." he smiled at the memory, "Lord Pent and Lady Louise were there, of course, you can see it on their faces."

Everyone looked at Pent and Louise, who'd been having most nostalgic looks upon their faces before they embarrassedly turned away. "Sorry, couldn't resist there," said Erk mischievously, "Anyway, we wed and then moved to the Pheraean coast of Lycia, acting on an invitation of Eliwood. We had you two there," Erk indicated his twin sons, "And we lived happily until you two were about four, nine years ago."

"We know all that, dad," said Lleu impatiently, "What happened after that?"

"Lleu!" scolded Lugh, "That's rude, he's probably getting to that part!"

"It's alright, Lugh," said Erk, "Both of you shouldn't hide your curiosity. I understand and expected you two to be confused and resentful about me being alive."

"I'm sorry, daddy," said Lleu, perhaps returning to an innocence he barely remembered. "Please continue."

Erk nodded, "Thank you, my son." he said, "Well, all this time had gone by and we had a family. Not once did I ever stop to think that Nino was once part of the Black Fang. Even when other former Black Fang members we'd known, sometimes personally, were disappearing, we hardly though it possible that Nino had a price on her head. Neither did Eliwood, or he'd protect us more closely. It was a massive surprise when Bounty Hunters came into Pherae in search of her, before they had a chance to find her, she fled. She just disappeared in the night without a word. She told me nothing, not even a note. I did what I had to. I went after her. I figured the first place she'd go would be Castle Pherae to see Lord Eliwood, so I went there too." He recalled the day vividly now...

* * *

><p>"Lord Eliwood will see you now, Erk," said Rebecca.<p>

Erk looked down at his sons, who were now playing with Rebecca's son Wolt and Roy, Eliwood's son. Roy and Wolt were older than his sons, but they seemed to be getting along nicely. They'd only met once or twice before. "I'll watch over them, Erk," said Rebecca, seeing Erk's concerned look.

"Thank you, Rebecca," said Erk, "It's good to see you again."

"You too," she smiled. Rebecca and Nino had been, and still were very good friends. They'd have tea together and talk about motherhood and other womanly things Erk had little interest in.

Erk nodded and walked into Eliwood's study. It was similar to his own library, books lined the walls and a great oaken desk sat towards the back of the room. "Come in, Erk," said Eliwood cordially, but not cheerfully. Erk could tell Eliwood already knew what had happened. "I know why you're here, old friend. You were correct in assuming Nino came to me."

"Do you know where she is, Lord Eliwood?" asked Erk almost desperately, "Please, tell me."

Eliwood's expression turned grave. He looked sadly to the ground, "Erk… I…" he sighed, "She came to me two days ago," he explained, "Distressed, worried, crying, she was. She told me that bounty hunters were tailing her and she had to run. I begged her to stay here at the castle, but she wouldn't have a noble like me fretting over her." he smirked, "You know quite well how humble she is." Erk nodded and indicated for Eliwood to continue, "Well, she left here, explaining that she was sure the bounty hunters would follow her and leave her young family alone. I aided her as much as I could and told her the best route away from here…" he trailed off before continuing, "Yesterday, I received word that she'd been captured." he walked over to a large map of Elibe, "I can't even tell you where she is, because I honestly don't know. All I do know is that most of the bounty hunters after former Black Fang like to make their homes here." he waved a hand over the Bernese Mountains, particularly the western half, bordering Lycia. "She's alive, Erk," he continued, "She'd be worth next to nothing dead to them, she is alive."

Eliwood walked over to the other man, "I wish I could send an army after her, but the international repercussions are far too great. Those men are Bernese who were after Nino, after all… King Desmond would get angry if I sent The Phraraean Army after her and he might invade… I'm sorry, Erk, but you're on your own." he walked over to his desk and picked up an official piece of paper from one of the drawers. He got a pen, dipped it in ink, and signed it, "This is the best I could do." he handed Erk the piece of paper.

"'I, Lord Eliwood of Pherae, do hereby appoint Erk of Reglay as Pheraean Ambassador to Bern?'" Erk looked up at Eliwood to make sure he was quite serious. Eliwood indicated he should continue reading, "'With all rights and amnesties thereof, effective immediately.'" he looked up, "You must be joking."

"I'm not, Erk." said Eliwood, "That will get you past Bernese troops or Bernese capture and imprisonment." he gave Erk another paper, "This is for Nino." it was another paper similar to Erk's, "These Bounty Hunters are a mixed bag, however," he continued, "Some follow Bernese law, others don't. You may have to use… 'magical persuasion' to get yourself through this.

"If it were up to me and Hector, we'd have troops combing that entire region for Nino, Erk." he sighed, "But it's not up to us… Well, not really. We can't afford a war, Erk, even over Nino." Erk saw Eliwood's face, just a glance at that face would tell anyone just how much he hated the situation and how much he longed to break the rules.

Erk nodded, "I understand, Eliwood," he said, long having discarded the formalities with one of his oldest friends, "You've done enough already… I work better without a bunch of troops to be responsible for, anyway." he looked directly into Eliwood's eyes, "Just promise me one more thing,"

"Anything, my friend," said Eliwood.

"Take care of my children," said Erk, "But if I don't come back in three weeks…" his expression turned pensive as the dread of having to admit something he hated to but had to welled up in his chest, "…Then I'm most likely dead. If that eventuality comes, take them to Lucius. Will you promise me that, Eliwood?"

Now it was Eliwood's turn to look pensive, "I'd adopt them, you know. That is, if Pent doesn't snatch them up." he said earnestly.

Erk shook his head, "I guess some of Nino's humbleness has rubbed off," he said, "Both of you are nobles. You have countries to run. You don't need my children as a burden."

"Erk, that's not true, and you know it!" protested Eliwood.

"Please, Eliwood," said Erk, "Respect my wish. They'll be safer in obscurity."

Eliwood looked at Erk. Erk was a man in trouble, a man whose wife had been kidnapped. He was so far removed from the young mage from Etruria he'd met eleven years before, so much more matured. Then again, they all were. They'd been through a whole lot together. Eliwood owed it to Erk to heed to his request. "…Alright, Erk." he said, "But only if you don't come back and I hear nothing about you."

"Thank you, Eliwood." said Erk.

"Good luck, old friend." said Eliwood, "Go, with my blessing."

"Thank you kindly." said Erk and with that, he exited. He came out into the hall. He absent mindedly watched Lugh, Lleu, Roy, and Wolt play. Wolt and Roy would indeed be good friends to Lugh and Lleu if Eliwood adopted them, but Erk couldn't put such a burden on his Marquis. What was more was they'd be targets for assassins in either Eliwood's or Pent's care. It'd be far better for them if they disappeared to Lucius's little known orphanage. He didn't like entertaining the idea in the first place. His parents had died when he was only a boy of 8, leaving him orphaned. Nino's parents died when she was but an infant and despite astronomical odds, she preserved. He hated giving his boys the same fate he and his beloved had to grow up with. It was this very reason why he was going to set out and find Nino, in addition to coming to aid the love of his life, but it was also the reason why he was afraid to die now.

He was in danger of dieing for an entire year when Eliwood waged a war against Nergal. He didn't care about dieing then, because no one would miss him. In those days, he was only a 15-year-old orphan. Nobody would miss Erk. But now he had a family. He had a lovely wife whom he adored. He was blessed with twin sons, whom he loved dearly. If he died, his sons would grow up fatherless. That would suck considerably for a pair of 4-year-olds. He was afraid to leave his children alone in the world. It was like a duel edged sword. He knew what he had to do, and at the same time, there was so much to lose.

"Boys, come here a moment." said Erk to his twin sons. Lugh and Lleu looked up from their play with Wolt and Roy and they proceeded to run up to their daddy.

"What is it, daddy?" asked Lugh. The two watched their father intently, waiting for what he'd say.

"I'm… going to go get mommy, boys," said Erk to his beloved sons.

Lleu nodded, "We know daddy."

"I…" Erk swallowed hard, "I might not be coming back with mommy. I might not come back at all."

The boys just watched their father, each sharing an identical intent stare.

"So, I want you to be good for Lord Eliwood and play nice with Wolt and Roy. But most importantly, Lleu and Lugh, most importantly, no matter where you two go, I want you two to stay together, help each other, protect each other, and support each other." It was painful for him to even think of the possibility of him not returning. He hated it. He did not want his sons growing up as orphans. _But it must be endured,_ he kept telling himself. "Promise me, boys. Will you promise me?"

Lugh nodded, "Yes daddy." he said immediately.

"…Yes daddy," said Lleu after Lugh. He didn't like the idea of his father leaving him alone, "You're gonna come back, right daddy?"

He didn't know how to answer that question. He did all he could think of. Erk knelt down to his son's level and hugged them tightly, "I love you, my sons."

"We love you two, daddy." said Lugh and Lleu in unison. It would be the last time for nine years that the father and his two sons would see each other.

* * *

><p>"After that, I left for the Bernese Mountains." continued Erk, "I found your mother, Nino, but only after I had been captured. These guys were powerful bounty hunters. They proved… far too much for me alone. So, they captured me and put me in a cell with Nino. We were together again. Even with the circumstances presented before us that day, just being with her made it that much better…<p>

Erk swallowed hard, "They'd collected their bounty from King Desmond, but Desmond wanted at least one Black Fang member alive for interrogation and reference should a former Black Fang member get captured. So, they kept us alive… barely. They beat me, they beat her worse. It was… not pleasant." Clearly there was much more detail to it, but it pained Erk to think of those memories. He looked at his children, "I had no idea how much time had passed, my sons. I'm so sorry." he looked off sadly. He felt his long hair and put the fingers of his hand through it, "I didn't even know I'd gone grey until today." he continued to feel his purple hair, now with grey streaks through it.

"How'd you escape?" asked Chad.

Erk turned back to his audience, "We plotted it for years without knowing it. They never once bothered to move us out of that dank old cell. So, both of us being as highly intelligent as we were, we found an area we could dig out a tunnel out of that place conveniently under our cots. We finished it after much secrecy and work and we were escaping together when the call was raised. She stayed behind so I could go." she smiled sadly, "She's always so selfless… She did it in a way that I couldn't object to either. One moment she was with me, the next she was gone. I knew I needed help if I ever held hope of rescuing Nino, so I came here. It took three weeks to get here, with all my injuries and my bones broken the way they were.

"But the important thing is," continued Erk, "that Nino is still alive."

"Really?" asked Lugh.

Erk nodded, "Well, we must rescue her at once!" cried Lleu, "We gotta save momma!"

"Hold on," said Pent, "Whist your courage is admirable and placed indeed in the right place, there's a bit of a problem of how this is going to be accomplished. I mean, Erk tried to rescue Nino nine years ago, and he was captured, what's different now?" Pent wasn't usually so downbeat, but his mind was a calculating one.

Erk nodded, "You're right, Master Pent." he began, "You see, when King Desmond was in power, there was fundage enough to keep the both of us under high guard. That Bounty Hunter fort became a full Bernese military instillation with guards and wyvern riders, partially to guard us and partially to have a garrison near the Lycian border. When Zephiel became king, the large contingent continued. But soon there were less and less guards at the fort, no doubt because this past war was going sour for Bern. Soon, there was only a tiny group of mercenaries left. And that is the state that fort is in now, with Bern defeated. It wouldn't be too hard for a small force to take that fort." he sighed, "So, I'm here to ask for your help… which ones of you will accompany be back to rescue my wife?"

Lugh and Lleu needed no time to think. "We will!" they both rang out, determined to save their mom.

"I'll go too," said Chad, "These two are my best friends, my brothers, after all. There's no way I'm going to let them go without me."

"Then I'll go too," said Cath, "Who knows? Maybe there's a big huge bunch of treasure chests in that fort," she mused.

"I'll help you too," said Hugh, "Nino's my cousin, I've got to save her."

Erk smiled, "Thank you all. I truly appreciate this."

Hugh shrugged at his cousin, "We just fought through a war, coz; a little mercenary fort's no big deal."

* * *

><p>The Doctor: ...So maybe I ripped off Lord of the Rings a bit at the end there and maybe just a wee bit of Count of Monte Cristo... But none of you could tell, right?<p>

Ewan: I couldn't tell.

Raven: I could.

Doc: Well... even if it is cliche, what would you suggest they say instead?

Raven: ...

Doc: That's what I thought.

Raven: ...

Doc: Awesome. Review today...

Ewan: ...make our day!

Raven: ...Grrrrr!


	7. To Be an Archsage

The Doctor: I was going to wait a bit more before I posted this, but meh, whatever.

Ewan: Yay for updating early!

Doc: Hmm... yes. A special thanks to Sentinel07 and Anonymous for reviewing again. And a fantabulous thanks to Solyeuse for the first review I've gotten that's mostly critical! Thank you thank you!

Raven: ...Wha...?

Doc: The more criticism I get, the more I strive to be a better writer!

Raven: Ah, I see.

Doc: And since I can't PM Solyeuse, I have to respond here. Yes, I've gotten similar comments about my writing from time to time. I suppose you could say my mind is a scattered jumble of fragmented thoughts and ideas that most of the time have very little to do with each other. Consequently, some of my writing makes no sense whatsoever... I usually catch the larger errors without making a complete idiot out of myself, but the little stuff, like you pointed out, not so much. However, in my own defense, this story up to the last chapter was written about a year ago. From this chapter on, the writing will be fairly well recent. Please let me know if there's any improvement at all, as you've gotten me very interested in my progress in that particular area. Thank you.

Raven: Wow, Doc, you're acting quite nice to someone who basically trashed your work...

Doc: He/she/him/her did not! It was merely criticism and you know it! I'd save bad comments for when a _real_ troll shows up, if I was you.

Raven: ...You mean there's worse?

Doc: Much to learn you still have, Raven... Anyway, on this chapter: This one holds probably the largest instince of AU in the whole story... I won't spoil the surprise, so I'll dive deeper into that particular subject on the endnotes. Well, that's all for the moment, on with the chapter!

Ewan: You forgot again, Doc!

Doc: Yes, quite right. *Sigh* I don't own Fire Emblem, because if I did, assassins could steal from enemies too (specifically in FE7), making it actually a logical choice to upgrade your thief.

* * *

><p>Chapter Six<p>

To Be an Archsage

The next morning, Lleu sat on a backrest-less stone bench outside in the garden of Reglay alone. He sometimes made nasty remarks about his brother's naivety, but truthfully, he knew Lugh was a good guy. Lugh understood Lleu and Lleu's needs so well it was second nature to him. Sometimes, Lleu needed some alone time, and Lugh was always more than perfectly alright with that. Lugh always made sure that Lleu was alright, he brought his brother treats for him, and he was always there to talk to. He was two things at once, a naïve child and a caring parent. Sometimes it bugged Lleu to no end but other times he appreciated it. Even if he'd never admit it, he had missed his brother and Chad when he ran away. Now he was back with his brother and Chad. That wasn't too bad, they both were important to him after all. He just needed some alone time every once in a while, such as this particular moment of the morning when they were still asleep.

What was most on Lleu's mind at that moment was his dark magical studies. He thought of what he was willing to do to himself before, knowing what might happen to him. At one time, he was ready and able to cut off all ties he had with other people. He was ready to sacrifice his life to the darkness. That was why he left, so he could immerse himself fully in the darkness and let all the dark voices consume him. It was a gamble, the odds were negligible that he'd come out of that a more powerful sorcerer, he'd most likely die. He was 12 years old at the time, he was an orphan. He figured no one would miss him much besides Lugh. In those days, he loathed his brother. The innocence, the naivity, the goofy smile, and the pestering 'are you okay' questions. If he wasn't his brother, he would've easily punched him in the face.

So, he left the orphanage without a trace besides a note to his brother. He met and traveled with Hugh, then stole his Nosferatu and took off with it. When he was alone one night, he contemplated doing it. He had the Nosferatu tome in his hand, he was ready to gain power or die. But just as he was going to do it, he couldn't bring it to himself to practically kill himself. It was the first time on his path of Elder Magic that he questioned what he was getting into. He met his brother and Chad, along with Roy's Army, and then joined up with them. He starved off the desires to submerse into darkness.

He met Niime, Hugh's grandma, and she taught him a whole lot. He learned he didn't need to risk killing himself to gain the power he seeked. So, that's what he did. He became very powerful indeed, he even surpassed Niime. He learned more and went farther in 3 months than most shamans and druids learn and go in decades, centuries even. He became so powerful that his only rival was his twin brother. He received the book of Apocalypse, the most powerful Elder magic tome in the world. In that book was a way to go even further into the Dark. Lleu knew this, he had the means in his possession. All he needed now was to make the choice to follow through with it.

But now, for the second time in his life, he questioned his path of darkness. Only this time, it was because of his family. He was no longer an orphan, he had had a mom and a dad the entire time. Erk, Nino, Lugh, and Chad would all miss him and all be sad if he reverted to darkness. And besides, what good was it to become like Bramimond? He'd be a mirror, a reflection. He'd cease to be Lleu. Lleu wasn't sure he wanted that anymore. He wasn't even sure if he ever wanted that in the first place.

Lleu looked up and saw his father sit down next to him. "Hello, son." he said affectionately.

"Hi, dad," said Lleu pensively. He hugged his father.

"Would you like to talk about what you mentioned yesterday now?" asked Erk. Lleu nodded, "Well, what's on your mind?"

"Well, dad," began the green haired druid, "I'm a practitioner of Elder Magic… I'm sure you can already guess what that eventually means."

"In Elder Magic," said Erk thoughtfully, "You're always tempted to go into the veil of darkness… Doing that supposedly either makes you incredibly powerful or a lump of flesh."

"Yeah, exactly," said Lleu, "You see, in Apocalypse, it tells you how to safely traverse that. But the price is your personality…"

"I know, I met Bramimond in person once… it was weird." commented Erk.

"That's the thing, though," said Lleu, "Dad… I'm not sure that that's what I truely want. I don't want to end up spending my life sleeping in a dank dark chamber and then mirroring every personality I come across… There's so much more I want to do, so much more I want to learn…"

A smile curled up Erk's face, "When I was 15 years old, I felt about the same way."

"Really, dad?" asked Lleu.

Erk nodded, "Of course, in my case, it was spending the rest of my life in some library, studying until I died. For me, it happened when I met your mother."

"What would you do in my position, dad?" asked Lleu.

Erk thought for a moment, "…Have you ever thought of becoming an Archsage?"

Lleu nodded, "I was already thinking that… Do you really think I should?"

Erk shrugged, "If you seek new knowledge, there's two other schools of magic to learn when you're an Archsage. If you seek power, imagine having three different types of magic under your belt."

Lleu tilted his head thoughtfully. He'd already kinda made up his mind in that direction anyway, what more proof did he need than he own father's advice toward that decision? He looked over at his dad, "Thank you, dad," he hugged his father, "I'm more than glad that you're here now."

Erk embraced his son. There were plenty of times when he thought for sure he'd never see either of his boys again. He son was bigger now, but that didn't change too much of anything, the father was here now for his sons. He stroked his son's green hair affectionately, so much like Nino's, "You're welcome, Lleu."

At that point, Pent walked up to the pair from behind, "Good morning," he said both cheerfully and cordially.

"Good morning, Master Pent," said Erk respectfully over his shoulder.

"Good morning," said Lleu quietly, but respectfully.

"Word gets around this place quite fast," remarked Pent.

"Lord Pent, you can admit that you were eavesdropping." said Lleu with a small smirk.

"Eavesdropping? Me?" asked Pent, slightly tough-in-cheek. "Okay, I'll admit it. But it was quite an interesting conversation, you can't deny that."

Erk grinned, Pent's curiosity was nearly as boundless as Hugh's father's was. "Well," said Erk's son. Lleu turned around to face Pent on the stone bench, "I suppose it is a fascinating subject. It's not like there's many people with this sort of knowledge in the world."

"You're correct," nodded Pent, "But on the subject itself, I've read up on Apocalypse and more generally the effects and workings of the elder arts," Lleu smiled, the man knew when not to offend or maybe he was just smart enough to tell the difference between dark arts and elder arts. Pent continued, "Well… I can see why you've had doubts, certainly."

"May I ask you something, Lord Pent?" asked Lleu sincerely, absent mindedly moving his Guiding Ring around his right ring finger.

"Anything, young Lleu," replied Pent.

"…What does it take to become an Archsage?" he asked, looking at Pent with an expression of pure seriousness.

Pent smiled and seemed to nod approvingly. "Well," he said, "You need one of these." he pointed to his forehead. Rounding it and obscured by Pent's silver hair was a band. It wasn't a tiara, but rather a thin and inconspicuous crown. "This is a Master Crown. Once they were very common in our world, but many were lost over time. Athos, my master, kept a stash of them in his private chambers at Nabata. This one," he pointed to his tiny crown, "was his and, well… I couldn't let such a priceless artifact be buried with him… I'm sure he'd agree. I mean, I'd not be nearly as well adapt at continuing his work without it." he momentarily looked sheepish before composing himself.

"…So it's like a Guiding Ring?" asked Erk, looking down on his own ring, "It focuses hidden talents, hidden power?"

"That it does." replied Pent. "Only this time it does it a second time." He paused thoughtfully and then said, "Follow me."

Lleu smiled and obliged, followed by his father. Pent lead the way down a corridor and through the manor, rounding many more corridors, halls, and doorways in the process. Erk knew the castle like the back of his hand, and if Pent hadn't rearranged everything in the last ten years, they were headed for the treasure room. Erk had loved the treasure room, filled with things that fascinated him when he was a student here. Pent had shown him things that were in no other collections on Elibe. At last, Pent lead them down to the final hall to the door of the treasure room. Lleu noticed that it was made of solid oak and had no hinges or knobs. He wondered how it was opened.

Lugh and Chad were already there, "Can you tell us what this is about, Lord Pent?" asked Chad politely.

"I wanted the three of you here," explained Pent as he, Lleu, and Erk arrived at the door, "You're going on quite a noble quest and I want to give you three something."

"Lord Pent, we appreciate the gesture…" began Lugh.

Chad looked at Lugh before looking back at Pent, "But we can't accept this. You've done so much for us already and…"

Lleu felt the urge to interject with something or other about how they should accept whatever Pent was giving them without question to take advantage of him whist he felt generous, but he felt himself stop. No, that was rude and unkind. Lugh may be a goofy sort of guy, but he was right about what was right and what was wrong. Lleu remembered Father's teachings just as well… he just chose to ignore them. No, he didn't want to be rude any more. Maybe it was simply because his real father was there with him now and therefore he was never an orphan. Maybe he only was a nasty little snot to people because he felt the anger and hurt of being orphaned and because he wasn't orphaned now, he felt no need for that. Maybe he was just growing up. In any case, he remained quiet and watched for the moment.

"Now, don't get all humble on me, lads," said Pent, "It's quite noble of you to do that, but please; at the very least, respect my wish." He turned to the door and put his hand, spread out, in the center of it. A small magical light traveled down the center of the door from top to bottom and in it's wake appeared a crevice and pair of doorknobs in the center to open the double doors. "Now, if a thief or anyone else besides my lovely wife or my dear children tried that, they'd be fried into a crisp."

"Wow," said Lugh, "It's a good thing you kept your lock picks from Cath." he said to Chad.

"It's a good thing she didn't even try even without them," added Lleu.

"Oh, I tried," said Cath's voice as she appeared from a dark corner behind them, "and… well… I burnt my hand." she held up her right hand, which was makeshift bandaged with some cloth.

"Hmmm, serves you right for trying to rob Lord Pent." said Chad with crossed arms.

She massaged her burnt hand tentatively and shrugged, "Well, now that you've opened the door… surely you'll let me look inside too?" she asked Lord Pent.

"You are quite an interesting lass, Cath," said Pent, careful not to point out anything about her youth, which he guessed would tick her off to no end, "Sure you can have a look, but I'd just like to say I didn't kill any peasants to get any of these items. What you see inside this room I had to travel far and wide for the most part of my twenties across all of Elibe to acquire. Consequently, this is probably the biggest collection of the rarest of the rare relics and items in all of Elibe."

Cath looked at Pent keenly for a moment before nodding, mostly to herself, "And you're quite an interesting Lord, Lord Pent." she said, walking over to join her friends "You're really no noble, you're more just a normal mage, like my buddies here." he put her arms around Lugh and Lleu's shoulder. They each gave her a weird sidelong glance.

Pent laughed, "I'm glad to hear that… now will you promise not to rob me?" he asked, a bit jokingly.

"No promises," stated Cath, quite seriously.

Pent tilted his head thoughtfully, "Well, regardless, I'm opening this door." he did just that and walked in. Erk, Lugh, Lleu, Chad, and finally Cath followed. It was quite an amazing sight. Rather than treasures and trinkets of gold and silver, there were weapons and tomes and various items. The weapons were all rare, and possibly one of a kind pieces, Brave Swords, Lances, Bows, and Axes, Light Brands, Runeswords, a spear said to have been infused with Nergal's magic once wielded by Vaida of Bern, the Excalibur tome, Ereshkigal, Nergal's own tome, Luce, a light tome said to rival Aureola, and a number of others. There were seals and crests of all kinds, Ocean Seals, Earth Seals, Hero Crests, and the like. There were rare enchanting enhancements, like Speedwings, Energy Rings, Angelic Robes, Boots (which didn't really enchant, but did help a whole lot), and so on. It was unclear which was more of a marvel, the items themselves or the lengths and bounds Lord Pent had to undoubtedly go through in order to get such an epic collection together.

The items were organized somewhat well… in truth, not really. It was cluttery, but at least everything was mostly in plain sight. Pent stumbled over the trinkets and came to a cupboard. He opened it and retrieved two crowns and a piece of paper. He stumbled back and came upon the group, who'd admired all the things in the room while Pent was retrieving.

"These, my young friends, are very rare items." explained Pent, "I sense that you both, Lugh and Lleu, have reached the highest potential a sage and a druid can hope for. To continue, you'll need some help, in the form of these." he handed each of them a thin crown, much like the one he had on his head. They were little more than a band of gold, but their aura, their power, was undeniable. They each had a single stone set into them that resembled a diamond. "This," he pointed to one, "Is called a Master Crown." he handed one to each twin. The brothers took them and examined the object in each of their hands.

Chad smiled for his friends, but felt a bit left out. That is, until Pent addressed him, "And this," he said to Chad, "Is called a Fell Contract." he handed him a scroll. Chad examined it and squinted his eyes in order to read the tiny script. It was indeed a contract, and to make sense of all the fine print, it was magically infused to make the signing thief an assassin. "It's open ended," Pent explained to Chad, "The makers of those things died out long ago, but the magic still works. It was to be that the signer would become an assassin as soon as signing it, but whenever the guild that made those things asked a favor, the assassin would be absolutely obliged to do so, whatever that may be. You don't have to worry about that now, Chad, those guys don't even exist anymore anyway, so when you sign that, you're as free to do whatever you could do before."

He turned to the rest, "Now these things are rare, especially the Fell Contract. Chad, you may very well be holding the last of those. Of course, a huge stash could be eventually found somewhere, but it's the last known one. Lugh and Lleu, there's more Master Crowns, but not a whole lot. Cherish these gifts, although I don't think I need to tell you that."

The three looked at their gifts, "Surely we're not worthy of such gifts," said Lugh, looking at Pent.

Chad nodded, "Yeah… surely these should go to people who are more talented or better than us three…"

"Us three street rats." finished Lleu, a bit defiantly.

"On the contrary, you three probably deserve these more than anyone." said Pent.

"Why?" asked Lleu.

"Because, my son," said Erk, "You three are more noble than anyone else. You're humble, kind, just, chivalrous, unassuming, and all around good people. You're young and curious and what better way than these to show you a new avenue of power to explore. You are the last to misuse it and the best to handle it. I agree with Pent, no one is more worthy of these gifts than you."

"Wow…" said Chad, "Well… if you insist." he looked around, looking for something. Having not found what he'd looked for, he said, "But… do either of you have a pen?"

Pent and Erk laughed good-naturedly and Pent obliged with both quill and ink. "Lugh and Lleu," Pent said, "For you, it's the same as using a guiding ring: concentrate your energy…"

"Right." nodded Lleu understandingly. The twins looked at each other and shrugged. They both closed their eyes and concentrated all their consciousness and energy into the items, having had a little experience with "class changing items" with the guiding rings now snug on their ring fingers. They then each put the crowns upon their green haired heads and a flash of aetheric energy engulfed each twin. Of course, the intense light of this was more than enough warrant for everyone in the room to cover their eyes.

When the light subsided, everyone regarded the twins again. At first glance, they appeared as before, but after a few second's scrutiny, there was something quite different about them. They both seemed… better than before. Taller, stronger, more refined, and undoubtedly more powerful. The group gazed in wonder at the 13-year-old Archsages.

"Wow!" exclaimed Lugh as he looked at himself and his brother. He was shaking in excitement. "This is way beyond awesome, brother!"

"I can feel the power flowing through me!" exclaimed Lleu, "You're absolutely right, this _is_ way beyond awesome!"

They turned to Chad and discovered he hadn't signed the Fell Contract yet. "Chad?" asked Lugh.

"…Sorry, I just wanted to see what happens before I did it." said Chad.

"Chad," said Lleu, "Dozens of our army promoted through the war."

"I know, but I never got to actually witness any promotions…" admitted Chad, "I guess it's not very thief-like to hesitate, though."

"No, it's not, Servant #1." put in Cath.

"Cath!" protested Chad. His face melted into one of unamusement in the face of her laughter, "You know, Cath, if this works, I'll be calling you Servant #1!" he said mischievously. He took the pen in his hand, dabbed it into the ink well, and put his signature on the dotted line of the contract. As with Lugh and Lleu, a blinding white light engulfed Chad. Once again, everyone shielded their eyes out of necessity.

This time, they all gazed upon Chad when the light had subsided. Like Lugh and Lleu, he too appeared the same on the surface. But also like Lugh and Lleu, he now looked taller, stronger, and more powerful. "Wow," said Chad, "This is truly amazing."

"Wow," whispered Cath. There was a look of awe on her face before she controlled herself, "Well, Chad," she said, "I guess maybe now you might be my equal."

Chad just looked at her, dumbfounded, before he said, "Equals? Just now equals?" he calmed himself and sighed, "Well, we'll just see about that, won't we?" he grinned slyly.

Pent chuckled, biting his hand to suppress any more laughter. He cleared his throat with purpose, "Here," he said. He walked around the room, gathering four tomes and two katanas as he went, "Let me give you these to go with your promotions." he smiled.

"Lord Pent…" began Lleu.

"Please, Lord Pent," continued Chad, "You've already given us so much…"

"We couldn't possibly accept more," finished Lugh.

"Well," said Lord Pent, "Surely you can accept these as an early birthday present?"

Lugh looked at Chad, who looked at Lleu, who looked at Lugh, "Well," said Chad, "Alright…" he rolled his eyes a bit.

"Thank you," said Pent with a warm smile. He handed Lugh and Lleu the tomes one at a time, "These tomes will help you and encourage you to work up your studies, you both can use all three schools of magic now, after all. For Lugh, I give you Ereshkigal, Nergal's old tome, I know it'll be put to good use in your hands. For Lleu, I give you Excalibur, like Aircalibur but a whole lot more powerful. I give you both Luce and an Aura tome. Luce is far more powerful than Aura, so perhaps you both can take turns with each?" he looked back and forth hopefully.

"I hope I can, Lord Pent, I dunno about Lleu, though." Lugh grinned mischievously at his brother.

"Hey!" said Lleu, playfully hitting his brother.

Chad rolled his eyes and smiled until Pent addressed him, "And to Chad, here are two very rare swords. Here is a Wo Dao." he handed Chad one of the katanas.

"I thought Thieves couldn't wield one of these." mused Chad.

"Well, no one ever tried," mused Pent, "Trust me, you can wield both of these." He handed Chad the other katana, "And this is the Vague Katti. There's no other sword like it."

"Like the Mani Katti or Sol Katti?" asked Erk curiously.

"Well, kind of," nodded Pent, "Only this one isn't Sacaean as far as I know. I bought it off a pirate who found it 'somewhere'. I paid a small fortune for it, but it's far more priceless than even that."

"Then shouldn't we not use these, any of these weapons you've given us?" asked Chad humbly.

"My friends," said Pent, "Weapons, even priceless ones, are meant to be used, not stored in some dusty old room. Use these weapons for you are deserving of them."

Lugh stared at the books in awe and then felt the crown upon his head. He smiled and hugged Lord Pent, "Thank you thank you, Lord Pent!" he said cheerfully and gratefully.

Pent laughed kindly, "You're quite welcome, lad." he said, "Quite welcome indeed."

Lleu rolled his eyes at his brother's naivety. When Lugh was done hugging Pent, Lleu shook the man's hand cordially, "Yes, I won't lie, I can't express my gratitude for your extreme generosity."

"It's my pleasure, Lleu," said Pent with another smile.

"Yes, thank you very much, Lord Pent, this means a huge lot to us." said Chad with a grateful smile as he too shook Pent's hand.

Cath just looked on in awe. Having beheld (and stolen) many fantastic riches before, she knew just how valuable the things Pent had just given her three friends. She'd met Roy and thought him very kind for a noble, but Pent was a whole other level higher in generosity. She was beginning to agree with Chad that Lord Pent was possibly more charitable than she. In any case she simply was in shock at his ability to part with such amazing treasures with such a generous heart.

"You all are welcome, my guests. I wish you the best of luck on your noble quest. Rest assured that I'll watch over your little ones and I do look forward to your triumphant return." Pent thus bid them farewell and their journey began.

* * *

><p>The Doctor: Yes, the quest begins, finally... I hope this isn't going too slow for all you folks. It's more a character development fic than it is an action fic. But there will be some action, don't you worry about that (that's what climaxes are for).<p>

Ewan: I can't wait!

Doc: I know you can't. But yes, to the matter at hand: Master Crowns, as most of you probably know, are exclusive to Radiant Dawn. But in my own defense: we never really get to know what they look like (like most of the promotional and stat changing items), so they could look like anything. However, if you look at Athos's official art and portrait, he does have like a gold band/tiara/crown thingy on his head. What could that possibly be? Well, for the purposes of this fic, it's a Master Crown! Thus is how he became an Archsage.

Doc: On the Fell Contract: Well, let's just say that neither Mathew or Legault used it and Pent "got a hold of it". The same goes for the Aura, Luce, Excalibur, and Ereshkigal (try saying Ereshkigal three times fast). And I also hope you enjoyed the reference to the Mine Glitch (which I used to get Vaida's spear once or twice when I played... it was awesome). Now for Chad being able to wield a Wo Dao: in FE8, assassins could wield Shamshirs, which did the exact same thing as a Wo Dao. So, as a bit of a stretch, Chad can wield a Wo Dao as an assassin just as assassins in FE8 could wield the Wo Dao-like sword of that game.

Doc: But the biggest bit of AU is, of course, the Vauge Katti only avalible in FE9 and 10. Sorry, I have no justification for that... asside from the plausible explanation that it "passed through the aether" from FE9/10's universe into FE6/7's universe and then some pirate found it and sold it to Pent. But in truth... we don't really know where the Mani Katti and Sol Katti came from either (the Mani Katti was just there... in some church and the Sol Katti was *found* by Athos) so there's a sufficient amount of mystery surrounding these swords to warrent that they came from (possibly) another universe (FE9/10's).

Doc: Pent's really quite generous, isn't he? He strikes me as the noble that is completely without greed except for a greed or desire for further knowledge. However I'll leave it up to you, great reviewers, if any of this is anything remotely plausible...

Raven: Wow, Doc. You go to great lengthes to try and justify your madness.

Doc: I do.

Ewan: Take a minute or two...

Doc: ...and submit a review!

Raven: C'mon, guys, you're driving me crazy with those rhymes!


	8. The Journey Begins

The Doctor: This next chapter was so very long, I basically had to split it into two sections. So Chaper Seven and Eight were originally one chapter, but now they are two.

Raven: Basically? What's so complex about spliting a chapter in half.

Doc: *whacks Raven upside the head* My point is that this chapter may end a bit iffily...

Raven: *messages head* Ow...

Doc: That's right... and also, I'll be taking a bit of an absence, so make the chapter below and the next chapter after that last. Chapter Eight will be up Wednesday, but Nine will be up _quite a bit_ afterwards... thus the absence. Don't worry, it's not like I'm abandoning this, I just need to finish it...

Ewan: I understand.

Doc: Yeah, like really, you want me to give you a pile of crap in the form of a chapter? Give me a wee bit of time to polish it.

Raven: I think you're only upsetting your own manic time schedules... Folk here are used to going months between chapters.

Doc: Oh, I couldn't possibly do that to them... Well, _anyway_, I'd like to give a warm, heartfelt thanks to Solyeuse, Anonymous, UpbeatButNegative, and Fimbulvetr for reviewing, some for the first time, others once again. I have to reply to three of you here because... you have no profile to speak of.

Doc: The shortest responce is to Fimbulvetr: Yes, I absolutely agree with you, sir/madam/him/her/she/he

Doc: Next is to Anonymous: That's "Enchanting _enhancements_" my friend. It's a poorly carried out pun, for I'm just full of puns. I'm quite a punny fellow. I think it's lots of pun. There's pun filled fun for everyone!

Raven: You are an idiot.

Doc: And yes, they had quills (pens made from feathers or any other stylus type object) at that technology level (Fire Emblem is, after all, set in a different universe from our own). Quills in one form or another have been used since Ancient Egyptian times. (Yes, I do research this sort of stuff)

Doc: Now for Solyeuse: Thank you again for pointing all that out. I'm actually keen on improving myself, as you know, so please keep it coming. I do say "said" quite a whole lot, don't I? I'll be sure to use other stuff more often then... But trust me, I have to use more than one line to reply to you. I need to explain my insane madness to somebody.

Raven: Maybe you should stop creeping them out.

Doc: Yes. Good point. Well, finally onto my thoughts for this here chapter: This chapter features Raven and Priscilla and what they've been doing since FE7. They may prove to be very very OOC from their FE7 incantations, especially Raven. My defense, however, is that if Karel went from Sword Demon to Sword Saint in twenty years then Raven can surely mellow out in that time. That's the extent of his OOCness, he's long defeated a lot of his personal demons and he's better for it. But just for laughs, I'll leave it up to you lot to determine my portrayal. Fair warning here, though: There's alcohol in this chapter... but since it's rated Teen, I think I'm good.

Ewan: You forgot again, Doc!

Doc: Right! Nope, I still don't own Fire Emblem, last I checked... Because if I did, Lugh, Lleu, and Chad could do a triangle attack and they could have a triple paring in which they all do what's mentioned below in the chapter (you gotta read to find out).

Ewan: On with the chapter!

Doc: Hey, only I can say that!

* * *

><p>Chapter Seven<p>

The Journey Begins

Erk, Lugh, Lleu, Chad, Cath, and Hugh departed Reglay manor on horseback. Pent had provided one of his own steeds for his former student so Erk wouldn't have to share. Erk knew precisely where the fort he'd been locked away in for years was within the mountains of the West of Bern, but to be on the safe side, he consulted one of Pent's maps and eventually barrowed it. Pent provided some basic provisions for the group. He gave an Elfire to Erk and two Lightning tomes to Lugh and Lleu. Being a powerful Archsage and a teacher, Pent had plenty of tomes of all sorts stockpiled.

Lugh gave Lleu a Fire tome and Lleu gave Lugh a Flux tome. Both had to start small in their quest to master all three schools of magic. "You want to change your outfit too?" asked Lugh to Lleu, tough-in-cheek, as they rode down the road. "You are an arch_sage_ now."

"Lugh, if I dressed like you, nobody will ever be able to tell us apart," said Lleu, "at least until they got to know us…" The whole group laughed at this.

Hugh turned to his little cousins and asked, "So now that you're both big archsages and all, will you help me with my studies?"

"We've already helped you with your studies," retorted Lleu with rolled eyes.

"The most help you gave me was stealing my only dark tome," said Hugh, "therefore forcing me to go with anima magic. That was the extent of your help."

Lleu frowned at this, "We've been over this many times."

Hugh looked over at Lleu, "I know, little cousin," he replied, "I'm just teasing you."

"All the same, I think you should help with Hugh's studies, Lleu." commented Lugh.

Lleu looked over at his brother, hoping that he didn't just say what Lleu thought he'd said. Hugh nodded at this, "Sure, I don't mind. My old man used to say 'teaching illuminates the minds of both master and student' or something like that."

"He was right, you know." called Erk from the front of the group. He'd been chuckling for a while now at the antics of his children. He continued to look forward now as they rode along the road east. They were taking the road south through Caerleon into Ostia, now part of the new united Lycian Kingdom. From there, they'd head further east until they'd reach the fort in the mountains between Lycia and Bern.

"Yeah, this is what it was like when we were running around fighting Bern during the war." Chad's voice broke Erk's prior thought. The young assassin was presently riding next to Erk. He nodded back towards the twins and their older cousin.

Erk laughed, "You lucky lad," he joked.

Chad laughed as well, "They're my family, though, so I've got to love them."

"We heard that!" cried Lugh, Lleu, and Hugh in unison. Chad only laughed harder at this.

She caught herself staring at him. She had had a crush on him for sometime now. But the problem for Cath had been that she didn't know how to tell him. She was so embarrassed, so afraid of rejection… Chad had been the first person she was in love with and deep down, she was confused and unsure. None of this ever made it to the surface, though, and she masked her true feelings with her smug and ego. She wondered if she'd ever get the courage to tell him…

"Where are we going, exactly?" asked Chad to Erk.

"Well," began Erk as he searched for and pulled out the map he'd acquired from Pent, "where we're going is in the center of this mountain range that separates Bern from Lycia." He put his finger along the mountain range in question on the map, "So, we'll travel south along the road we're on to Ostia and then cut across Lycia from there."

Chad looked at the map and made a suggestion, "Why don't we go diagonally through the North Bern Mountains? It's more direct."

"Well, yes, as the wyvern flies," nodded Erk, "But we don't have one of those. For one on horseback, that terrain is hard to traverse. Going through Ostia and Lycia means we have well maintained roads to travel on, meaning a much quicker journey."

"Oh… that's true," nodded Chad, "How long will it take then?"

"Well…" began Erk once again, staring at the map as he did the math in his head. "It'll take a few days… We'll have to stop in Caerleon and again at Ostia… and maybe once more in Khathelet or Pherae, either or."

"There are inns we could stay at at Ostia and Pherae," stated Chad, "But I don't know about Caerleon."

"Oh, don't worry, some very old friends of mine live there… at least I hope they still do," said Erk, "We'll find out, I suppose."

* * *

><p>Priscilla looked out from the balcony of Court Caerleon's manor and observed the late afternoon world as the sun sank ever lower on the horizon towards an inevitable set. It was her manor now, her and her brother's after the death of Lord and Lady Caerleon. Her adoptive parents were good friends of her real parents, but were an older couple. It seemed they couldn't have a child of their own and when Cornwall started to decline, they received their dear friend's little daughter. At the age of 36 now, she understood that it probably was for the best that she had been safe in Etruria and didn't see the horrors of Cornwall's last days.<p>

But her thoughts weren't thinking that far into the past. It was her beloved Lord Cameron that was heavy on their mind right now. She'd met her husband, the second son of the Count of the Etrurian Court of Perusia, after she returned from the war against Nergal. Her adoptive parents hadn't been too pushy in getting her wed, unlike most all the other Etrurian nobles except her dear friends Lord Pent and Lady Louise, and she felt free to choose a husband herself. Out of all the would-be suitors Lord Pent and her father could gather together, Cameron was the only one that she could truly love. Their wedding and marriage was celebrated and approved by most everybody. Her nineteen years of marriage brought a handsome son and a beautiful daughter and for nineteen years, she seemed to be living in a fairy tale come true.

That is, until the war came. Her husband and her 16-year-old son, Clayton, both mounted their steeds and went off to war, and they never came back. Instead, an Etrurian soldier solemnly brought the manor the sad news of both their demise in battle against Bern. She could hardly function for days, staying in her room and crying.

But not all was lost, her 12-year-old daughter Jenifer was still with her, as was her brother's family. "Hello, dear sister," said the calm, deep voice of Raven.

She turned around and regarded her brother with a smile, abet a small and sad one. He walked up to her and they shared a warm sibling's embrace. She always had felt safe in his arms even as a little girl. "Hello, dear brother," she said, long having discarded addressing him as 'Lord Brother'.

They let go of each other and both regarded each other for a short time. Neither Raven or Priscilla were grey yet, their brick red shocks of hair as vibrant as ever. But being in their late thirties, Priscilla at 36, Raven at 39, some lines were appearing below their eyes. A nasty scar was on Raven's right arm, a parting gift from the Great Bernese War.

It was Priscilla's quest for her big brother that got her involved with the war against Nergal. She'd been adopted away eight years before the end of Cornwall but Raven had remained there. He saw the demise of Cornwall first hand and barely escaped with his retainer and soon to be only friend, Lucius. He then became a freelance mercenary, all the while plotting his revenge against Ostia. It wasn't until he met his sister and she shared with him some information about the goings-ons of Cornwall did he understand the truth.

Hector offered to rebuild Cornwall and to make him Marques, but Raven refused. Instead, he told Priscilla that he'd be a mercenary once more, but Priscilla suggested that he return with her to Etruria. What she was sure he intended to be a short visit turned into a permanent stay. It was kind of awkward to say the least, but Priscilla's parents adopted him too (at the age of 20) and named both he and her as their successors in their will. He found love in Katharina of Court Spica in east Etruria near Sacae. She was quite an engaging woman, Priscilla was very fond of her sister-in-law. Her nephew, whom everyone called Falcon, was a great lot like his father. The 15-year-old was well liked by his peers.

Raven and Falcon had also gone to war. Raven was made general and he took on many battalions of Bernese troops alone. Unlike her own son and husband, her big brother and her nephew came home alive and only a little scratched up. Raven, Katharina, and Falcon all were there to comfort Priscilla and Jenifer. Priscilla was blessed to have her brother and his family still. She knew she wouldn't be able to live any longer if both her husband and her brother died. Still, it was terribly hard to overcome the deaths of her son and husband, these past weeks had found her in a melancholy mood at best.

"How do you fare, little sister?" asked Raven calmly.

"Better than before, I suppose," she replied, "I think I can finally accept what I must…" she sighed sadly, "I think I can move on."

"That's good," nodded Raven.

"Thank you for being there, big brother, through it all," she said as she hugged her brother once more.

"You're welcome, dear sister." he said. Then something caught Raven's attention. "Hmmm… who do you suppose that could be?" he asked his sister.

She broke the hug and stared out to where Raven was pointing. Along the wooded road in the light of the late afternoon sun, a group of people were approaching on horseback. Caerleon manor was about a mile from the main road and had a small road that lead up to the manor. Anyone traveling on that road, therefore, would have to be someone coming to the manor. "I don't know," Priscilla replied to her brother. She turned to look at him, "but we'll find out soon enough."

* * *

><p>Erk, Lugh, Lleu, Hugh, Cath, and Chad entered into the entrance hall of Caerleon manor. It was finely decorated and ornate, the golden light of the sun coming through the windows only served to enhance the beauty of the place.<p>

Before anything else could be said, Chad told Cath, "No stealing from this manor either." He crossed his arms.

"Oh, come on!" Cath protested, "How come not this manor either?"

"Because, it's polite," stated Chad.

"Chad, at this rate, I might as well quit thievery," she said.

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic," he teased, "if we're partners, then I should decide which places we should steal from."

"Hmpt!" was all Cath could say. She crossed her arms and stuck her tough out at Chad childishly.

"How shall I announce you, m'lord?" asked a female servant.

"Tell Lady Priscilla that Erk of Reglay is here to see her, thank you," said Erk cordially. The servant nodded and scurried off to announce Erk's arrival.

It only took a few minutes before they all heard a happy voice cry, "Erk!" at the top of the grand staircase leading up to the second floor. Erk looked up and smiled as he came upon the sight of Lady Priscilla. The red haired lady nimbly ran down the stairs and gave her old friend a very warm hug. "Erk, it's so good to see you!" she exclaimed happily.

Erk laughed, "Likewise, Lady Priscilla."

"Oh, surely you don't have to call me 'Lady Priscilla'," Priscilla said, letting go and looking at her friend in the eye.

"Well, no," Erk replied, "but these surroundings are quite imposing of such a title." He gazed at the grand hall around him.

"Yes, quite true," she said.

"Well met, Erk," came Raven's deep voice.

Erk turned to Raven and smiled once more, "Yes indeed," he said, "The same for you, Lord Raymond."

Raven laughed heartily and gave Erk a bone crushing hug. His imposing figure towering over everyone in the room. "Please, just call me Raven."

"Of course," wheezed Erk breathlessly, "But first you have to stop trying to crush me."

"Oh… yes, of course," he let go and Erk doubled over.

Erk quickly recovered and proceeded to introduce everyone, indicating each person as he introduced them, "My friends, these are my boys, Lugh and Lleu, my cousin-in-law, Hugh, the son of Canas, and their best friends Chad and Cath." He turned back to Raven and Priscilla, "Everyone, this is Raven and Priscilla of Court Caerleon, some of my dearest friends from the war against Nergal."

"Yes indeed," nodded Raven, "my sister and I bid you all welcome to Court Caerleon."

"Come, let's get you all fed and settled in for the night," said Priscilla caringly, "and Erk can share tidings of his adventures…"

"Thank you very much, you both," said Erk gratefully.

"Anything for an old friend." replied Priscilla.

* * *

><p>Lugh, Lleu, and Chad settled into their room. They didn't mind sharing one, they'd shared a room at the orphanage after all. Chad had his sketchbook out and was sketching away with his pencil as he sat on his four-poster bed in the corner, his face contorted into a look of intense concentration.<p>

The twins absentmindedly watched him from their beds for a bit before he could sense someone was staring. He looked up from his drawing and asked, "What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing," said Lleu quietly and embarrassedly.

"Yes… nothing," said Lugh, equally embarrassed.

Chad just smirked, "Gee, I had no idea watching me draw was so interesting," he said with a tone of sarcasm.

There was a moment or two of silence before Lugh broke it when he asked, "…What are we going to do after this?"

"Huh?" asked Chad.

"What do you mean?" asked Lleu.

"Well," replied Lugh, "The war's over now… I'm curious as to what we're going to do now… after we rescue Mom…"

"Actually, I was thinking of giving up thievery," replied Chad, "I think I'll travel around and help orphans in need."

"I was thinking of traveling too, only to raise the awareness of Elder magic," replied Lleu with a shrug.

Lugh put his knees to his chest, "That means we'll be apart…" he sighed.

"What? What's the matter with that?" asked Lleu defiantly.

"You guys," began Lugh, "We just went through a war, a terrible war. Both of you are more than smart enough to know we all could have very easily been killed. But by the grace of God, we all survived. It's a blessing that we're all three still alive, but now we're all going to split apart. That's squandering our blessing. We may never see each other again, if you two go out and travel like that, alone. If we split apart like that, we'd might as well be dead to each other." He rubbed away the silent tears in his eyes, but had managed to stop before he made a crybaby of himself.

"Well," said Lleu, the edge of his voice had left him at least for the moment. "What would you suggest we do with ourselves instead?"

Lugh then smiled and looked from Chad to Lleu. He asked, "You guys remember when we were in the Western Isles? You remember that one castle by the sea?"

Chad chuckled. "There were a lot of castles by the sea, Lugh," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"No, we came upon this one after you joined us, Lleu," he looked at his brother, "but before we went down to Missur. It was abandoned and by a gorgeous beach and forest. Klein once told me that the government of Etruria had abandoned it a while ago because it had lost it's importance."

"…I remember that," nodded Lleu, "that was a cool place. But... what about it?"

A devious grin appeared on Lugh's face as he relayed his plan, "Well, why don't we fix it up? We'll fix it up and make a school out of it, like what Lord Pent does. I'll teach anima magic, Lleu can teach Elder magic, and Chad you can teach-"

"Art!" put in Chad enthusiastically, "I'll teach art."

"Well, I was thinking swordplay… would you teach that too?" asked Lugh.

"…I guess I will," said Chad. "But I'd like to teach art mainly."

"Of course," nodded Lugh, "it'd be great, though, we'd take in downtrodden orphans and potential magicians from all over Elibe. We can all travel the land to recruit students and then teach them our arts! What do you guys think of that?"

"I'm there," Chad stated without further thought. "That's quite an awesome idea, Lugh," he remarked.

"How 'bout you, Lleu?" asked Lleu's twin eagerly, "Having a school that actually teaches it will surely raise the awareness of Elder magic."

Lleu stared pensively for about a second before he smiled and remarked, "I have to say, brother, that's probably the most epic idea I've ever heard." He nodded approvingly and said, "You've got yourself a deal."

* * *

><p>Erk, Raven, and Priscilla retired to a small sitting room within Caerleon manor. There were only a few chairs about and a small table. The walls weren't extravagantly decorated, only a few small landscape paintings adorned the walls. There was only a small fireplace with the purpose of heating the room most of the year in the corner. Erk assumed this room was reserved for the most private of conversations in Caerleon, the more rudimentary and political discussions were better placed in the main court down the hall.<p>

The redheaded siblings relaxed in each their own ways. Raven had a single solitary brandy in his hand, from which he'd sip occasion as a gentleman of his standing would. Of course, a less mature Raven of twenty years prior would more likely be seen with a monstrous tankard of beer, but being a Lord, a husband, and a father had mellowed down his consumption of alcohol enormously. Priscilla, being far less than likely to take to alcohol, contented herself with a cup of tea. Erk had joined Priscilla in his choice of drink. Being as kind as he was, he didn't want to even suggest he was drinking something that might alter his behavior in front of a lady.

"So, Erk," said Raven after taking his first tiny sip from his brandy, "what's happened to you over the past nine years?"

Erk laughed at how blunt the question was. "That's quite an excellent question," he remarked. He sighed then, when his mind turned to the most unpleasant answer to that question. He stared pensively at the floor between his friend's chairs, attempting to gather his thoughts and words and ideas of how to convey his sad tale to them. He nodded to himself, looked up at them, and began to relay his long story.

He left a good number of unpleasant details out, but made sure he implied just how nasty those nine years were. It was uncertain how long he took to tell them, it felt like hours, and when he was finished, the siblings were most speechless. There was a pensive silence that lasted a minute or two.

Priscilla was the first to speak. "How… utterly awful, Erk," she said simply.

"That is quite terrible, my friend," said Raven solemnly, "but still, your quest now is incredibly noble."

"Yes, certainly just," remarked Priscilla, "I'm certain I would do the same for my husband…" she looked to be on the brink of tears and she leaned over and rested her head on her big brother's shoulder. Raven stroked her hair affectionately and comfortingly.

Erk nodded, "Thank you, my friends. But now that I've shared my experience… would you mind sharing me yours?"

Raven nodded, "Shall I go first?" he asked his sister, seeing that she at least needed a bit of time to compose herself before she told her story. Priscilla nodded simply, wiping away the tears with her handkerchief. He, in turn, nodded back, "Okay," he said, "anywhere you'd like to start?"

"Well," said Erk, "I guess you could start with after the war against Nergal. Forgive me, but I didn't even know you were here, or even alive, especially after I heard about Lucius," he looked at Raven, "you too were… _very _close."

Raven frowned a bit, "Well, I can't say I blame you for thinking we were lovers," he said bluntly, "Lucius was, after all, an _extremely_ feminine looking man." He rolled his eyes and continued, "No, we were best friends, nothing more. He, being an acolyte, had to remain celibate, and I was far to passionate about revenge at the time to think about much else. I'd known of his detest of being mistaken as a woman time and again, on the inside, at least, he was very much a man." he looked off pensively, remembering his friend.

He continued, "When I finally came to my senses and found the truth about my parent's suicide, I didn't know where to go. Hector offered to rebuild Cornwall and make me marquis, but I couldn't go back. I suppose when I realized that revenge wouldn't bring my mother and father back, I also realized I couldn't go home… It was filled with bad memories and broken dreams. My childhood, my past haunted me so… I couldn't return to that broken place just to have it all rebuilt as if nothing had happened. But I had no purpose… I told Priscilla and Lucius I'd just be a freelance mercenary…"

* * *

><p>His little sister and his friend regarded him strangely after he broke the news to them. He knew neither of them wanted him to do that again. They both sat in silence for a bit on their side of their table in the pub of Badon. Despite the noisy atmosphere, the silence was a bit deafening.<p>

But then something odd happened, a determined look came about his sister. "Lord Brother," she began, "…why don't you return with me to Caerleon?"

"What good would that do, Priscilla?" he asked, harsh and cold.

"…I'd like my adoptive parents to meet you," she said cryptically.

"They wouldn't want to meet me," he retorted coldly, "the sight of a ruffian such as myself would surely frighten them."

She probably had a thousand protests, claiming his legitimacy as her brother, the heir to Cornwall, that her parents weren't so snobby, that they'd welcome him with open arms. But instead, she said, "Please, brother. I'm offering you something I don't think you yourself will find; a future, a purpose. Brother, you were always protective, always supportive, and you always helped me so much when we were little. Now it's my turn to help you."

Raven couldn't believe how much she'd grown up. And what was more, she was right. He looked at her and said simply, "Well, alright."

That night, after Priscilla had retired, Lucius and Raven talked, "Lucius… I'd like you to leave."

"Pardon me, Lord Raymond?" asked the Bishop, perplexed.

"Lucius, you've been a faithful friend for many years and for those years after the end of Cornwall, you were my only friend. I thank you for your support, you've been my best friend, but… don't you think it's time you did what you wanted to do?" asked Raven.

"Lord Raymond…" said Lucius, "all I want to do is continue supporting you…"

"Lucius," said Raven, "you and I both know that's not your true dream. If you could do anything you wanted, Lucius, regardless of friendships… what would you do?"

Lucius was silent for a moment, lost in thought, "I'd open an orphanage…" he said, "yes, an orphanage where I could care for poor and downtrodden children, like I once was."

"Then you should follow your dream." stated Raven.

Lucius protested, "But Lord Raymond…"

Raven interrupted, "You've helped me to put my heart at ease, Lucius. You have succeeded. Now I want to see your heart put at ease. I want you to be truly happy. If nothing else, surely you'd respect my wish?"

Lucius looked a bit taken aback at Raven's words. Even if he were completely selfless, he'd still be able to follow his dream. "Thank you, Lord Raymond." he said, "I'm glad to have known you."

"And I you." nodded Raven. "and don't think that this is goodbye, either. I shall write often and I'll visit you wherever you decide to build your orphanage."

Lucius smiled, "Thank you." he said.

* * *

><p>"So, I returned here with Priscilla," Raven said, "at first, I only was going to stay for a little while, but this place is so pleasant and Count Caerleon and his wife were so kind that I decided to stay. I was adopted into her adoptive family… awkwardly at best, and after they died both of us became the Lord and Lady of Caerleon. I found love here," he continued with a smile, "and I have a son now. We fought in the war and both of us returned."<p>

"But my husband and son didn't," stated Priscilla plainly and sadly. "I found love here too. Cameron and I had two children. My son, Clayton, and my daughter, Jenifer. Cameron and Clayton marched off to war with everyone else, leaving me and Katharina, Raven's wife, behind. I… heard the news only a few weeks ago. They were coming back home when a wyvern knight battalion attacked them. Most of their army had disbanded and that left only a handful of troops with my husband and son. They fought vigorously and won, so I'm told, but Cameron was speared bitterly in the fighting and died soon after. Clayton was trampled by a fallen wyvern and was crushed by it. Their graves are just outside there now, along with my adoptive parent's graves…" She wiped the tears away again and Erk provided her with his own handkerchief, "It's hard for me, needless to say."

Erk nodded, "I understand," he said, "this war was hard on us all…"

"Lucius died as well," remarked Raven gravely.

"Yes, I know," said Erk, "my boys and Chad were raised in his orphanage."

"Really?" asked Raven. He then recalled something, "Of course… I remember them from one of my visits."

"Yes," agreed Priscilla, "we had no idea they were your children, Erk… We just took them as just another pair of orphans."

"It's alright," said Erk.

"But still," said Raven, "they probably know more about his end… I'm curious to know what his last days were like. Would you mind if I asked them about it?"

"No, Go ahead, ask them," he said with a single nod. Raven nodded back and with that, he departed to find Lugh, Lleu, and Chad.

* * *

><p>The Doctor: Perusia and Spica were cities of the real Etruria, thus their inclusion as Courts of Fire Emblem's Etruria. (Etruria, Lycia, and Sacae were real civilizations that either were conquered by or had to deal with the Romans. Bern is a city in Switzerland.)<p>

Raven: Logical.

Doc: I'm surprised at how many tragedies surround Priscilla on here... like really, what do you guys have against her, huh?

Raven: Leave my sister alone!

Doc: So I comprimised, she had a lovely time with her husband, but he dies in the War of Bern and so does her son, thus making it tragic. But she's got her big brother to support her, so she survives and becomes an even stronger woman for it.

Ewan: Tragic, but somehow not 100% bad?

Doc: Precisely! I plan to eventually cook up a fanfic surrounding Raven and Priscilla and their kids that's even less tragic, just 'cus I think Raven and Priscilla are far too badass to be left out of FE6.

Raven: Awesome!

Doc: Quite. And yes, what did you guys think of my master plan for Lugh, Lleu, and Chad (along with Hugh and Cath too)? I think it beats the living hell out of their lame and boring default endings. ...So what if it sounds a little like they're starting Hogwarts! This is my fanfic, I make the rules!

Ewan: Calm down, Doc.

Doc: Yes... right... *Ahem* Ultimately, I leave it all up to you lot (the *gulp* _reviewers_) to give me input on all the various pieces of this chapter... So come on now, give a review...

Ewan: ...and if you're feeling generous, give us two!

Raven: ...That one was pretty watery, you guys. I think you're loosing your touch!

Doc: We are not!


	9. On Love and Friendship

The Doctor: Hello again. A special thank you to UpbeatButNegative for reviewing again. As I said previously, this is the last chapter for a while... I can't say how long because any estimate I make will ultimately be either too soon or too far in the future for my actual update time.

Raven: You're abandoning this, aren't you?

Doc: _Of course not_! I'm just covering my bases and yes, I'm writing Chapter Nine, it'll take a bit. So all I'm really asking is for you to bear with me.

Ewan: We'll bear with you, Doc.

Doc: Thank you, lad. This chapter is really supposed to be part of the last one, but that would've been something like 15 pages long. So this chapter is short and mostly filler, but it's cream filler! XD *Ahem* Still, I think it's got some great conversations, but I'll leave that up to you.

Doc: Oh, yes, one more thing: I still do not possess Fire Emblem because if I did, Wii Virtual Console would release all the Fire Emblems originally for Nintendo and Super Nintendo in a language I can read. Anyway, on to the chapter!

* * *

><p>Chapter Eight<p>

On Love and Friendship

Lugh, Lleu, and Chad had been bored in their room. They weren't particularly sleepy and weren't content with sitting around in there at the moment. Instead, they contented themselves with walking around the halls of Caerleon. They were at the balcony at the top of the grand staircase leading to the entrance hall when Raven approached. "Ah, hello, Lord Raven." greeted Lugh cordially.

"Hello," greeted Raven back, "er… Do you three mind if I ask you a few questions?" He felt a bit awkward, it certainly wasn't a light matter he was asking them about.

"Sure," said Chad.

"I don't suppose you remember me, do you?" he asked.

They three looked at each other, a bit puzzled. "Oh yeah! I remember you now…" proclaimed Chad, "you're that friend of Father's!"

"Oh, that's who you are?" asked Lleu, a bit taken aback at this realization, "Wow, small world."

"Yes," nodded Raven, "you see… I was a good friend of the Father of your orphanage." He told them, "My curiosity has gotten the better of me now… would you three mind telling me about his… demise?"

Lleu looked at his brother and Chad. He knew that Lucius had died and the orphanage was burnt, but he never had bothered to ask about the specifics. He figured it would be too hard for Chad and Lugh to talk about anyway.

Chad decided to speak, "Bern's soldiers came to our orphanage one day." He explained, "They tried to march through our garden, the only food we had, but Father protested. He tried to stop them from destroying our garden and they killed him for it." he bit his lip and was successful in suppressing tears. "Then they set the orphanage on fire. Us orphans got out safely… but… you get the idea."

"Wow." whispered Lleu, blown away at what had actually happened.

"Wow." said Raven also, only louder. He approached the three of them and knelt down to their levels, "Thank you for telling me this," he said, "…Perhaps I can draw some contentment knowing he died to save you, the orphans." He looked away, "I think that's what he would've wanted."

"I think so too," agreed Chad.

"Me too, of course," said Lugh.

"Yeah…" said Lleu quietly, his mind still heavy on the facts.

Raven stood again, "I… envy you three," he admitted, "we share something in common, I had my home destroyed once too… But you three persevered through it all."

"It's 'cus we have each other," mused Lugh. He came in between Lleu and Chad and put his arms around them, "I really love these guys, my brothers. They've helped me so much."

"And that's a wonderful thing, friendship and family," agreed Raven, "you three are lucky." He smiled and said fatherly, "You three take care of yourselves, alright? It was good to have met you."

Lugh nodded and smiled, "Thank you, Lord Raven. You too." And with that, Raven took his leave of them.

They chatted there for a small while before a girl's voice caught their attention, "Hello."

The three turned around, "Hello," replied Lugh. The voice belonged to a girl. She looked about 12 years old. She had red hair, trimmed, that fell neatly to her shoulders and green eyes. She was dressed in an elegant short sleeved white blouse with a matching white skirt that went to her knees. Over her blouse was a green vest with fine golden trim and on her feet were a pair of finely crafted brown boots.

"My name's Jenifer," she said in her pleasant voice with a smile. Her green eyes were directly on Lugh.

"Uh… my… my name's Lugh," said Lugh awkwardly with a nervous smile. _She's cute, _he thought to himself. _She's very cute._

Lleu desperately tried not to laugh his bum off, keeping it to a mere smirk. "I'm Lleu, Lugh's twin brother, and this is Chad. Pleased to meet you, milady" he introduced with a bow, "now, if you'll excuse us, Chad and I have to… er… go do something." He quickly grabbed Chad, gave a discreet wink to Lugh, and departed with Chad in tow.

Lugh looked confusedly at his brother for a second before turning to Jenifer. "Uh… h-how may I help you?" he asked, cursing himself for stuttering.

"Well… I noticed that you're a mage," Jenifer began, "I was wondering if you could help me with a particular spell. I just can't seem to get it right." she smiled again, looking at him.

Lugh smiled back, "Certainly," he replied, "but… uh… do you have a place we can train here?"

She laughed, "Of course," said Jenifer. She took his hand and lead him toward the courtyard.

* * *

><p>"So why'd you want to get out of there so quickly?" asked Chad to Lleu as they leisurely walked towards their room.<p>

Lleu looked at Chad with a clever grin, "Didn't you see the looks on their faces?"

"Sure I did," replied Chad.

"Wouldn't you consider that love at first sight?" asked Lleu.

"…Not really… I guess so, though…" said Chad with rolled eyes.

"Well, I think Lugh needs to find love," remarked Lleu, "I'm sure he feels left out seeing as both of us have girlfriends."

"What?" asked Chad in complete surprise, "Where'd that come from? And since when do you have a girlfriend? You're not exactly the romantic type."

Lleu sighed a bit, "Well, you're right about that… I haven't exactly asked her out…"

"Who?" asked Chad.

"Sophia," replied Lleu.

"You know she's at least old enough to be your ancient ancestor, right?" asked Chad.

"Yeah, I know, but she doesn't quite look it, does she?" Lleu nudged Chad in the side with a wink, "Besides… it's the fact that I'm in love that counts… it goes way beyond love for me… just… it's… wow." Even if he didn't know it, he was a lot how like his father was at his age about finding words for romance.

"I'll leave it at 'wow'," said Chad with a chuckle, "but still, you said both of us have a girlfriend… I don't have a girlfriend." he said the last part perhaps a little too innocently.

"Chad, I'm not blind." said Lleu, "I know there's something going on between you and Cath."

"There is not!" protested Chad.

Lleu laughed, "Come on, Chad, you don't have to hide your feelings."

Chad looked at Lleu and gave an exaggerated sigh, "…You're right, I have got a crush on her," he said quietly, "I really don't know what it is about her to be honest… but she's cute."

"You should tell her your feelings for her," mused Lleu.

"I'm afraid she'll laugh at me," responded Chad.

"Oh, I think you'll be quite surprised," said Lleu mysteriously.

Cath looked out from her hiding place in the shadows in a perpendicular corridor to the one Lleu and Chad were walking down. She had her hands over her mouth as she stifled her giggles. So it was true, Chad did have a crush on her. It confirmed her suspicions and somehow she felt better for it. But she still was terribly afraid of telling him… Thieves were rarely known for their courage and she fit the description of a coward painfully.

"Since when are you a well of romantic advice anyway?" asked Chad from down the hall, "You seem to be Mr. 'I hate you all'."

"Well…" began Lleu thoughtfully, "I'm your friend, right? Friends are supposed to give advice to their friends when they need it."

"Wow," said Chad.

"What?" asked Lleu.

"I had never thought you considered me your friend," commented Chad.

"Yeah… so I'm a jerk…" responded Lleu, "but I think I'm going to change all that."

"Wow…" repeated Chad.

Cath heard the door to their room slam. She glanced around the corner to confirm that they were in their room and not in the hall, which they were. She slid down the side of the wall and held her face in her hands. She truly didn't know what to do any more.

"Hey, Cath, can I have my bag back now?" asked the voice of Hugh, seemingly out of nowhere. She must've been so off her mark at that moment, she didn't even notice the bumbling approach of Hugh.

She jumped up in surprise and gave a small yelp. She looked at him with a scowl. "Don't sneak up on me again, Hugh!" she said angrily. She punched him in the stomach.

"Ow! Damnit, Cath!" Hugh clutched his stomach and doubled over.

Cath sat back down and looked near tears, "I'm sorry, Hugh. Here's your bag back." she tossed him his gold bag, which hit Hugh in the face before he could catch the heavy bunch of gold.

"AH!" cried Hugh. Truthfully, it didn't hit him too hard, but he still rubbed his eye where it had hit. "…Cath, did you just apologize to me?"

"Huh?" she asked pensively, "Oh… I guess I did."

"Cath, are you feeling alright?" asked Hugh, "You never apologize to anybody and you've never given back my gold bag so easily."

Cath looked at Hugh and wiped silent tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, "Yeah… you're right, Hugh. There is something wrong with me. I'm… in love with someone."

Hugh quit rubbing his eye and looked at her with concern, "Who are you in love with?" he asked. He sat down next to her and gave her his undivided attention.

"Chad," she replied, "…I have no idea what to do… I'm so lost."

Hugh nodded understandingly. "Well, maybe I can help," he said. She looked at him curiously. "I've had a lot of girlfriends in my time," he continued, "maybe I can give you an idea of what guys think when they're in love, you know, since I'm a guy."

Cath looked at Hugh with a smile and gave him a quick hug, "Thanks Hugh," she said.

* * *

><p>The Doctor: Cath and Hugh don't have a thing going on, k? They've got more of a annoying little sisterbumbling big brother relationship.

Raven: We weren't implying that.

Doc: Just covering my bases, better to be safe than sorry, and all those lame sayings... But yes, Lugh, Lleu, and Chad have romances going on.

Raven: Fasinating.

Doc: And again it's kinda lame that even getting A supports with Cath or Sophia, they don't have a joint ending... especially when Ewan can get with Amelia and both of them are like 13 as well...

Ewan: What? Oh no, me and Amelia were... uh... you know...

Doc: Yes, I know, all too well...

Raven: Treat your woman right, kid.

Ewan: Uh... right!

Doc: Anyway, yeah. You can review now...

Ewan: ...we don't care how.

Raven: *sigh*


	10. Ostia

The Doctor: I'm back!

Ewan: Did you miss us?

Raven: I sure didn't.

Doc: *Whacks Raven*

Raven: Ow.

Doc: Anyway, yes, I didn't expect to be gone so long... But something strange but normal happened that I'm sure you're all familiar with happened: Real Life. Well, I do have other projects in the works and if you could see my workshop, it would put Leonardo Da Vinci to shame... if I had a workshop. The bottom line is I have many projects cooking up and half a book series to write (no joke), so this has been put onto the back burner.

Raven: It never was taken off the back burner.

Doc: Exactly! So, yes, updates will happen unless I mysteriously die, which would suck badly, wouldn't it?

Raven: I guess so.

Doc: However, I won't give you a concrete timetable because if I did, then I'd undoubtibly break it and you'd all hate me... or whatever. So basically, all I'm saying is I'll update whenever.

Ewan: Whenever is a good time.

Doc: Yes it is. Anyway, I'd like to give a rich, chocolatety, and cream filled thank you to UpbeatButNegative, Anonymous, HighwindJump, and kageshoujo. Thank you all for your support and reviews...

Raven: You can tell he really doesn't want to reply individually...

Doc: *Whacks Raven again*

Raven: Ow

Doc: I would if there were pressing questions I felt like answering, but there aren't. Anyway, about this chapter: This chapter contains a little cameo of a certain redheaded shorty and his friends and here we introduce another main character... a certain purple haired half-dragon.

Ewan: I think you'll enjoy it.

Doc: I agree. Before I begin, I have one thing to say. Nope, still don't own Fire Emblem, 'cus if I did, it would be just as well known and loved as the Legend of Zelda...

Raven: Really?

Doc: Yes it would.

Raven: Damn, that's pretty bold.

Ewan: Not really...

Doc: On with the chapter!

* * *

><p>Chapter Nine<p>

Ostia

"So, brother," said Lleu, "how was your time with Jenifer?" Again, they were traveling southbound on the road to Ostia.

"Huh?" asked Lugh. He blushed, "Oh… uh… it was… okay." he cleared his throat very nervously.

"Oh, don't worry, little cousin," said Hugh, "girls aren't that scary."

"Oh, thanks a lot," Cath whispered. Chad just shook his head with a smile at Lleu and Hugh.

"Lleu, Hugh," interjected Erk, "I don't think you're helping." He rode next to his son, "Don't worry, son," he said to the boy, "I was really quite shy around girls too when I was your age."

"Really?" asked Lugh.

"Of course," nodded Erk, "your mother would be able to concur with me."

"I'm glad we're getting her back," stated Lugh.

Little did they know, however, that behind them far enough to not be noticed there rode a lone horseman. A horseman that was actually a girl. Jenifer kept her distance on the road and kept the hood of her unassuming brown cloak up.

* * *

><p>Their journey continued south and a whole day passed before they arrived in Ostia. They were outside of the city now. Gazing from their vantage, it seemed that repairs from the damages given to the city during the war were already nearly complete. Erk had stopped the procession and they all dismounted. "Okay," he began, "how much money do you all have?"<p>

Lugh rummaged through his pack and found his money, "I've got 65 gold," he said.

"I've got 50 gold," announced Lleu, having rummaged through his own bag.

"250 gold," said Chad.

"Hmmm… We wont get in to a terribly comfortable inn for the six of us with that kind of money," lamented Erk.

"Wait…" said Lugh. He turned to his older cousin, "We didn't ask Hugh."

"How much have you got, Hugh?" asked Chad, his arms crossed. Hugh was known to hoard his money away and was probably loaded at that moment.

"Oh my," said Cath from behind Hugh's back. She had Hugh's bag in her grasp and she was examining it.

"Hey!" cried Hugh, "That's my bag!"

"Of course it is," said Cath matter-of-factly, "no other man on this continent would be dumb enough to carry this much cash around with him."

"How much does he have, Cath?" asked Erk.

"Oooh," she said in wonder, "looks to be more than enough to buy Ostia Keep." A huge grin appeared on her face, "In the general area of 90000 gold."

They all gapped and looked at Hugh. Hugh laughed nervously, "Hey, you expect me to trust a bank with that much of my money?" he asked naively, "that's my life's savings right there."

Erk rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Not smart," he said quietly, "just not smart." He sighed. "Anyway," he said in a louder voice, "Hugh, would you be kind enough to help us fund our lodgings so we don't have to sleep in the bad part of town?"

Hugh looked at Cath, who just grinned earnestly at him, and sighed, "I suppose Cath will _never _give up my bag if I said no. So I really have no choice but to say have at it," he said, rolling his eyes.

"That's a good boy, Hugh," said Cath triumphantly.

"…Excuse me?" asked Hugh.

"Eh…" said Erk in an attempt to change the subject. He grabbed the bag from Cath and Cath was fairly surprised he could grab the bag from her (The Master Thief, after all). "Look, let's just find an inn and retire for the night," he said. He turned to Hugh, "Don't worry, I won't deplete your life's savings all _that_ much." He put the money bag in his satchel for safekeeping.

"Great," was all Hugh could say to that.

They mounted once more and proceeded into the city of Ostia. After putting their horses away at a large stable near the gates that was there for the very purpose of keeping traveler's horses, they combed the streets for a suitable inn. They'd all been in Ostia before, but Lugh and Chad had stayed at the castle, Hugh hadn't any money when he was there so he'd slept in the street, Cath had managed to find a vacant building to sleep in on her visit, and Erk hadn't been there in fifteen years. Consequently, they all were unfamiliar with the normal accommodations the city offered to travelers.

"Why don't we go visit Roy?" suggested Lugh.

"He's probably too busy to see us," dismissed Chad.

"Yeah, after the five of us saved his sorry skin a million times, some thanks," said Lleu ungratefully, "You'd think that little runt would be more grateful."

"Lleu!" scolded Lugh, "He is not a little runt!"

"Yes he is," retorted Lleu.

"Well, he was when we joined the army. He wasn't too much taller than me or Chad," admitted Lugh, "But he grew during the war…"

"He _still _wasn't too much taller than the three of us by the end of the war, Lugh," said Lleu.

"Are you referring to Eliwood of Pherae's son?" asked Erk, a bit confused.

"Yeah, he commanded the Lycian Alliance Army to victory," replied Lugh.

"Oh, him… I hadn't fully realized _the_ Roy was Eliwood's son, Roy… wow," Erk said, a bit flabbergasted. He addressed his boys, "But really, Eliwood is not a short man by any means. He was six inches taller than me, easily. I'm certain his son isn't all that short."

"He is!" protested Lleu, "Now I really want to go see him, just to prove his miniscule stature!"

"I still say he's too busy to see us," put in Chad finally. He learned long ago to stay out of the twin's arguments unless he had a really sensible point to interject with.

Lleu rolled his eyes, "Yeah, you're probably right," he said, "he clearly doesn't want to meet us, a snotty bunch of commoners."

"I didn't say that!" protested Chad.

"It's probably stuff that's out of his personal control," offered Lugh, "he's got snobby nobles up in that castle that would scoff at him communing with us."

"A real friend would've given us food and board for the night," mumbled Lleu.

"Sure he would have," nodded his brother, "but we're not freeloaders."

Lleu sighed, "Yeah…" he lamented, "besides, we have Hugh's entire life savings at our disposal, we could buy this town."

"Eh…" protested Hugh weakly, "I'd rather you didn't. Please." It seemed his protest went unheard.

* * *

><p>It was amazing how different the city looked even from the last time Chad and Lugh were there. Of course, after the war, the city had to be rebuilt a bit, which clearly gave the Ostians free license to completely redesign the entire city. At least that's what Erk surmised. As they walked, an attractive sign caught Erk's eye, "How about here?" he suggested.<p>

They all laid their eyes on a large, stately inn. "The Prancing Wyvern" it was called. The name was familiar to them all, each city of any significant size had one of these inns, Ostia, Aquleia, Araphen, even Sacae and Bern. It was a chain. Some sort of enterprising guild of merchants had the idea of several connected inns in large cities around Elibe and thus, "The Prancing Wyvern" mercantile guild was born. It was a really stupid name. As funny as it was to picture a wyvern prancing about, it was fairly impossible really to imagine such a happy, carefree action from a vicious beast.

Nonetheless, it was a comfortable inn and they were weary from the day's travel. The group entered the inn and came upon a large, bustling room filled with all sorts of people. From families out for dinner to loud off-duty soldiers having a jolly time to weary solitary figures, some spending their last coin on a drink, others content with a break in their long travels, this place was clearly quite popular and quite cosmopolitan.

"Welp, I'll go get us some rooms," said Erk. He regarded the group for a moment. "How many do you think we'll need?" he asked.

"I think the Master Thief here requires a room of her own," proclaimed Cath. She'd only gotten a room of her own in the last two places because she was a girl, it was proper, and there were enough rooms in each Etrurian noble's mansion.

They all gave her looks of surprise at her selfishness. "What?" she asked.

Chad sighed, "Never mind," he said, "Cath, you get your own room because you're the only girl." Cath got the distinct impression she'd said something horribly wrong. Either that, or maybe she was starting to realize just how selfish and childish she was. Either way, this would make it harder to confess her love to Chad.

"We three can share a room," commented Lugh, "unless you guys object to that."

"I'm fine with it," said Chad.

"I guess so," said Lleu, "But don't blame me if I come over and throw a bucket of water on your head if I hear you snoring, Lugh." Everyone laughed at this until Lleu said, "That wasn't a joke."

"And I'll bunk with you, cousin," said Hugh to Erk, "I don't want to spend too much money, after all." He rolled his eyes.

"Very well, then," said Erk. He retrieved the money bag and examined one of the massive 10000G coins, minted in Etruria. It was larger than Erk's hand with his fingers spread out and had engraved a scene with Saint Elimine blasting a dragon with Aureola on the back and the face of King Mordred on the front. Both sides had a huge 10000 engraved at the bottom of each side.

"Dang," said Chad, "I don't think I've ever seen a 10000 gold coin…"

"Spend it well," said Hugh meekly.

"I hope they're able to break one of these into smaller change," Erk commented. He put the coin back and said, "I'll be right back, then." With that, he went over to negotiate with the head innkeeper of the establishment. It took only a few minutes and a few hundred gold to broker for three rooms in the inn. When he returned, he asked, "Shall we settle in?"

Lleu spoke up, "Eh… you guys go ahead. I'm going to get something to eat, I'm starving."

"Yeah, I'm hungry too, actually," added Lugh.

"Geez, I thought you guys would never mention food," said Chad.

"How could you guys be hungry?" asked Hugh, "We just ate like two hours ago…"

"Oh, let them fill their hollow legs," laughed Erk, remembering his own large eating habits when he was their age. At that, Cath, Hugh, and Erk left to settle in. Lugh, Lleu, and Chad grabbed one of the tall tables with tall chairs toward one of the less conspicuous corners of the room. The table and chairs were quite high off the ground, anyone sitting in it would have their true height concealed. The three settled in and had a look at the menu.

After ordering their food, Lugh looked over to the table next to him somewhat absent mindedly. He noticed three cloaked figures seated around and drinking what looked like mead. His curiosity got the better of him and he strained to see one of their faces. One of them turned to look off in another direction and Lugh recognized him. "Hey you guys," he said to Chad and Lleu, "check it out, Roy's at the next table."

The other two looked over, "Wow, I wonder what they're doing here?" asked Chad.

"Let's say hello," said Lugh to the others. The three of them got off their seats and walked over to the high table next to theirs. Lugh could now see that Lilina and Wolt were the two other hooded figures. "Hey guys!" greeted Lugh cordially.

Roy turned to the three and greeted them. "Oh, hey guys," he said. Curiously, his voice was quite a bit deeper than they remembered. It was even, commanding, and manly. That wasn't to say he didn't have a manly voice before... kind of. During the war, Roy's voice as he shouted orders was rather highly timbered and a bit… squeaky. Lleu was the most obviously taken aback of the three at Roy's newly deep, manly voice.

"Hello there," greeted Lilina.

"Hi," said Wolt with a smile. Both he and Lilina didn't seem to have changed much. Lilina's pleasant voice and Wolt's even, mid-pitched voice seemed as they remembered.

"What are you three doing here?" asked Chad.

"I should ask the same to you three," laughed Roy.

"…Well, we asked first," pointed out Lugh.

Roy laughed, "Fair enough," he said. He turned to his companions before saying, "Well… we snuck out."

"You snuck out?" asked Chad with a raised eyebrow, "All three of you? I can kinda picture you doing that, Roy, but Wolt and Lilina?"

"You could say I've really lightened up lately," put in Wolt.

"They talked me into it!" Lilina protested most weakly.

"Wow, the King, Queen, and First Minister of Lycia snuck out," mused Lleu with a large amused grin.

"Hey, it was getting horrendous in there," explained Roy, "the paperwork is just awful…"

"Worse," put in Lilina, "is dealing with nobles…"

"Yeah, they aren't too pleased with a public elected senate alongside the Noble League Council…" said Roy with a sigh.

"So we snuck out," concluded Wolt to the laughter of his friends.

"I don't think having a night out incognito is too much to ask, after all," said Roy, "I mean, all three of us are 16 years old, we should be out having a good time late into the night."

Chad chuckled at this, "Yes, you've got every right to do that, I guess."

Lleu nodded at this, "Yeah, that's pretty badass of you, I'll have to admit."

"Well, thank you, Lleu," said Roy with a smile. He got off the chair and stood up to shake the young green haired druid-turned-archsage and the three beheld a great surprise.

Roy, standing to his full height, was now a good foot and a half taller than the three of them. He probably had grown a foot in the 2 months they hadn't seen him. All three of their mouths dropped seemingly to the floor at the revelation of Roy's incredible stature. Lleu was so shocked at this he nearly fell over, if his brother hadn't caught him first. "Whoa!" he exclaimed.

"…What?" asked Roy.

"You're _huge_!" replied Lleu.

"Huge? I'm not fat," protested Roy.

"…Er… no," said Chad, "what he means is… er, you're really tall."

"A _lot_ taller than we remember," added Lugh.

"You're ginormous!" cried Lleu.

"Really?" asked Roy, "I haven't really noticed…"

"Haven't really noticed?" asked Lleu, "You're a giant, Roy! And all this time, I was picturing this tiny runt and all-" He put his hand over his mouth immediately, his eyes growing big after realizing just how absentminded his outburst was. Luckily only the 5 others took notice to his loud speech. Everyone else was noisily having too much of a good time to care.

Roy looked over at Wolt and Lilina. Lilina had her head down on the table, her muffled giggles were uncontrollable. "Runt?" he asked Wolt, "I wasn't a runt, was I?"

Wolt's face contorted into a nervous grin, "Uh… sorry, Roy, but you were pretty short."

"I was?" asked Roy, dumbfounded.

Lilina put her face up, red from her stifled laughter, "Sorry, love, but you do realize you were shorter than me when the war started, right?" she pointed out.

"Well, yeah… wow, I guess I never realized how short I was," he laughed at himself, "But I dunno about being called a 'runt'." He looked at Lleu sharply.

"Oh, please don't kill me, Giant Roy!" cried Lleu, groveling at Roy's feet. Chad's face was a mixture of shock and amusement. Lugh doubled over in laughter. "I'm so sorry! Please, don't beat little old me up!"

Roy laughed at this, "It's alright, Lleu, I guess I was a little guy. I don't know about 'runt', but I was pretty short," he patted the small druid-turned-archsage on the shoulder comfortingly, "I guess I also didn't realize how much I've grown in the last few months. No big deal."

"No big deal?" asked Lleu in surprise. He stood to his full height, which wasn't all that impressive, "You're freaking lucky, Roy, I wish I was as tall as you."

Roy laughed, "Don't worry, you guys, you'll grow."

"I'd better," said Lugh with rolled eyes.

"Well, now that that's over, what are you three doing here?" asked Roy.

The three of them looked at each other and sighed before relaying their experiences since the war had ended. It didn't take too long to explain their situation and at the end, Roy nodded. "Hmmm," he said, "I heard of that fort, actually. The thing is, after the war ended, some units refused to accept Guinevere as their new queen, even though she's a kinder person than either Desmond or Zephiel and the last of Hartmut's bloodline.

"Basically, they're rebels, but they number very few and they're scattered around Bern. Most of the loyalist troops have managed to pacify the rebels. According to our spies, however, there exists a single fort in the mountains between Lycia and Bern and a single platoon of soldiers that won't yield. There couldn't be more than fifteen among their ranks, but the army of Bern is in shambles and unable to take care of it. If you dispose of those guys, the Bernese government would be very grateful," he finished, stroking his still hairless chin.

"We're not interested in politics," said Lleu, "We just want to get our mom back."

Lugh threw his brother a dirty look. "No, you're right," laughed Roy, "I've been working _way_ too hard, you guys. I think I need a vacation…"

"Hey, maybe you could come out to our place for a spell," suggested Lugh.

"Huh?" asked Wolt, "You guys have a place?"

"Well, not yet," said Chad, "We still have to get permission from the Etrurian government."

"Oh, it's a moldy old castle, like they'd care," Lleu retorted with rolled eyes.

Upon seeing Roy's lost expression, Lugh filled him in, "Well, we've got a plan to make one of those abandoned castles in the Western Isles into a magic school for orphans and other magically inclined folk."

"Oh, that sounds like an awesome idea!" exclaimed Lilina.

"Yes it does," nodded Wolt, "You have no idea how much we secretly envy you."

"Between us and you," said Roy, leaning closer to the three from his newly impressive stature, "if we three had our way, we'd split and sail off to other lands…" He returned to his full height and lamented, "But we can't. We're already being naughty enough just sneaking out tonight… But I think we'll take you up on your offer."

"You'll have to wait until we fix it up," said Lugh. "…Which probably will take a while…" he mumbled.

"We can wait," assured Roy, "thanks for inviting us."

"No problem," said Chad.

They chatted a bit more before Chad, Lugh, and Lleu's food came. The younger three ate and then said goodbye to their older friends, the King, Queen, and First Minister of Lycia. They then proceeded up to their room.

They walked and chatted down the hall toward their room until they heard a discreet cough and a soft voice say, "Excuse me…"

The three turned around and gazed upon a girl seemingly about their age. Her purple hair flowed down to the ground and trailed behind her a bit. "Hello…" she said shyly.

"Sophia," greeted Lleu. He felt his face turn into a friendly smile. It was strange, he rarely smiled in such a fashion. It was almost like feeling… normal and normal was something he was feeling more and more these past few days. "It's great to see you again," said Lleu.

"We'll see you in the room, Lleu," said Lugh to his brother. He turned to Sophia, "Glad to see you again, Sophia." He and Chad nodded cordially to the half-dragon and she nodded back.

When Chad and Lugh had left, Lleu walked closer to Sophia and asked, "Sophia, why aren't you in Arcadia?"

"I… wanted to see you again," she said softly. Her speech was faster than before, less disconnected, but she still was tremendously shy, even around the angsty green haired druid she'd met during the war. Sophia was surprised, he seemed quite a bit less angsty.

"So did I," Lleu replied, "I've never met anyone remotely like you, Sophia." He was telling the absolute truth. She was unlike any practitioner of Elder magic. She drew upon ancient, forgotten techniques to use Elder magic, a true magican worthy to be called a practitioner of the Elder. Unlike most who drew upon and got dangerously close to submerging into the Darkness, she ignored the dark voices. Lleu never knew how she could be so graceful, all he understood was she was an overwhelming light in a place where there shouldn't be any. She was an amazing Light in the deepest of the Dark, a paradox, but one that fascinated the green haired boy to no end. He was fascinated by her at first, and when he grew to know her, he fell in love with her. "Sophia, may I ask you something?"

She simply nodded and indicated that he continue.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked. "I… love you," he added awkwardly. He never had the courage to tell her before, but he'd since had the courage to become an archsage. Lleu's father had instilled a lot of courage into the boy and even though it was on a different subject, Lleu knew his father had helped him turn over a new leaf. He felt like any boy his age should feel when finding love. He supposed his dad would be proud.

He could see the excitement rise up in her eyes before it was replaced with despair. "I am a half dragon…" she said, "…I grow slowly. We can't be together, you'll grow old and die long before I will…"

"Oh, don't worry about that," laughed Lleu with a grin, "I've just been made an archsage, I won't be getting old and dying any time soon."

"Arch… sage?" she asked, a bit dumbfounded, before her face lit up with a smile. It was times like these that really made Lleu love her, he knew nothing more beautiful than her radiant smile. "Yes… I can be your girlfriend!" she exclaimed happily, "For as long as we like!"

They came together in a hug, "I love you too, Lleu," she said. He looked into her eyes and kissed her on the lips. Like most first kisses, it was awkward, but neither of them knew that at that moment. Neither of them could claim to being kissed on the lips before by anyone.

When the kiss came to a close, they looked at each other's eyes for a moment more before holding each other in a warm embrace. Lleu smiled and closed his eyes. For the first time in an extremely long time, he was actually happy.

* * *

><p>Jennifer was near tears as she spied from down the hallway at the green haired boy and his new girlfriend. She didn't know what to do now. She spied down the hallway again, this time taking note of the purple cloak on the boy. Then it hit her. She mentally slapped her head when she realized that Lugh had a twin brother and that was <em>him <em>down the hallway with _his _girlfriend. She felt both stupid and better at the same time.

She had half a mind to walk down there and ask Lleu where his brother was, but then stopped herself. _No, _she thought, _good things come to those who wait. So, I'll wait. _She sighed and walked back to her room.

* * *

><p>The Doctor: Yes, Roy, Lilina, and Wolt are aiming Lycia toward a more democratic solution. After all, Democracy is the worst form of government asside from any other government tried (and that includes monarchy). The plot thickens! Now we know more about our enemy!<p>

Doc: Oh yes, another note here... I don't really understand why everyone thinks Roy is so short, he's _kneeling _in his official art. There's no logical reason for him to be short, either. Eliwood was pretty damn tall, according to his official art, and all three of Roy's potential mommies aren't short women either. So what gives? I comprimised. He _was_ short, but then puberty finally caught up with him, which I'd imagine happened to his dad too, as he was pretty tall at the age of 17. Yes, it's true that he _could_ be a quarter dragon (yeah, I support Eliwood/Ninian; but it took me a while to warm up to that pairing nonetheless) and thus, even if he's 15, his body ages slower, so his body is more like that of a twelve year old's or whatever. But that's all truely an open book. I'll spare you my theories on the Dragonkin of this game here, but if you're curious enough, PM me for the long explanation... (I do have a Dragonkin fic in the works, so I might end up devoting half a chapter to explaining all that when that fic comes up... but who knows when that'll be)

Raven: Thank God.

Doc: Oh, and that's another curious thing... the religion of Elibe goes from being Polytheistic to being Monotheistic in twenty years... but that's yet another boring explaination I'll spare you.

Raven: Thank the gods!

Doc: Make up your mind, fool! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the little Lleu/Sophia moment at the end there... and the subplot of Chad and Lugh's romance thickens! I had no intention of making this romance, but a little bit of romance doesn't hurt too much, right?

Ewan: Write a review today...

Doc: ...it's not hard, okay?

Raven: *facepalm*


	11. The Old Home

The Doctor: Oh Sweet Baby Jesus on a Pogo Stick!

The Doctor: Well well well! It seems I'm not dead after all! Holy crap, what's it been? Like 12 years or something? Seriously, I think I posted this story three years ago and I'm sure the one of you that's still online on this site that remembers it is vexed at me for not finishing it, right? Well, to tell you the truth, it would've stayed unfinished, like so many fanfics on this site... but something came over me. Dunno what it was but at least it wants me to finish this... I think it'll be good for me, feeling something called "Accomplished."

The Doctor: So, about my older entries... That is, the first ten chapters and the prologue of this fanfic. I'm sorry, dear reader, that you had to stomach your way through the writing I used to do at the beginning of this decade. I'd be glad if you thought it was alright, but I think it was awful, I tell you, AWFUL! In other words, I'm apologizing on behalf of my earlier self because, like so many other writers, I look at my earlier stuff and see tons of mistakes and nastiness where I once saw none. I assure you that the remaining chapters (at least to the me that exists now) are much better done... but meh, you be the judge of that 'n' stuff. However, I won't be going back to edit all that because I frankly don't want to face that monster...

The Doctor: So yes, this chapter... I started writing this like four years ago (or was it three? Memory's not what it used to be) but only got a few hundred words along before I quit. In any case, you may notice a slight shift in writing where I went from 2011 Me writing to Now Me writing... Anyway, this chapter contains a certain lovable redhead lord from a game not FE6 (though he was seen there, and yes, he's just *sooo* lovable and stuffs... they tell me...) and also lots of deep moments and love professed from one character to another... should be oodles of fun!

The Doctor: And yeah, a bit about Lleu/Raigh. As most of the freakiest of FE freaks know, Fire Emblem Awakening includes a SpotPass team of FE6 characters... which means, if you don't know, that FE6 characters come back as a bonus-type-thingy. As part of this, both Nino's sons are available for recruiting and this means we got official translations of the twin's names. Whist Lugh's name turned out to be "Lugh," Lleu's name is evidently really "Raigh" (pronounced "Ray" I'd suppose). Well, for the purposes of this fic, which was published two years before Awakening came to my country, we're sticking with Lleu... (Man I talk a lot about pointless stuff)

The Doctor: Oh yes, the disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Fire Emblem. I know, disappointing, you'd think I'd own it by now... But if I did own it, Awakening would be better written and all that... which, aside from everyone else on the Serenes Forest, is a totally original thought.

The Doctor: Hmmm? My muses? Oh, I threw them out an airlock _ages_ ago. They were a bit tiresome and besides, muses are old hat now... right?

The Doctor: Yeah, I should just roll the chapter... hmm, been a while, how do I- Got it!

* * *

><p>Chapter Ten<p>

The Old Home

"I'm telling you, he was huge!" cried Lleu over breakfast. This time, the group ate together around a large circular table in the front room of the inn. They were joined by Sophia, who evidently would be traveling with the group from now on. They had awoken quite early and were one of the first costumers for breakfast at the restaurant portion of the place. They had the entire sprawling room mostly to themselves. That was, aside from the barman, absentmindedly cleaning some glasses no doubt from the previous night, and also a single hooded figure who sat in one of the corner tables inconspicuously munching on some bacon and ham. Lugh's attention was drawn to that figure for a few moments.

"I believe you," reassured Erk, "there's no need to repeat yourself, son."

"I just can't believe how huge he is, why does everyone else _not _have a problem with that fact?" asked Lleu.

"Here's a question," said Hugh, "why do you have a problem with it?"

Lleu sighed and pouted, "Because it's just not fair!"

"How's that?" asked Chad.

"I'm short! I _hate _being short!" Lleu continued to pout, "Why does he get to be so tall?!"

"Oh, stop it," sighed Cath, "you are not short. Me? I'm short." She folded her arms proudly, "But that just aids me in being a master thief. You think I could possibly crawl into the sewers of Aquleia to escape after plundering the Church's vault if I were any bigger than I am now?" She chuckled, "Not a snowball's chance in hell."

"Not while we're eating, Cath," said Chad, "really, that was nasty."

"Just proving a point," retorted Cath.

"Uh… back on the subject," interrupted Erk. "Lleu, neither you nor your brother are short for your age. You're only 13, after all," he said, "you'll grow. I'm not short, am I? Trust me, you'll grow."

"What are you talking about?" asked Hugh, "You are short, cousin."

"No, actually, you're just tall," said Erk dryly, "trust me. You banged your head against the top of the doorway to our room coming down here, Hugh." Erk rolled his eyes.

"Wow… never thought of it that way…" mused Hugh.

"As I was saying," said Erk, still in an effort to comfort his boy, "neither me nor your mum are short people, don't worry about it."

"Well, I hope I grow…" mumbled Lleu to himself. The had their breakfast and with that, bid Ostia farewell. From there, they went west to the mountains of Bern. The roads of Lycia weren't as good as Etrurian roads, but at least one could cover a more decent amount of distance than traipsing through the wilderness… in the snow. Lugh and Lleu had some eye-twitchy memories of Ilia from the previous winter.

The rest of the day's journey was somewhat uneventful. Sophia and Lleu held to the back of the group, secretly whispering to each other like conspirators on the back of Lleu's steed. Lugh thought it was cute, they made a cute couple. Evidently the age gap wasn't too much of a problem. Worryingly, he kept spotting a hooded rider whenever he glanced at the horizon behind them. Not that he felt particularly paranoid that afternoon, but he really wondered if the rider was the same guy he'd spotted at breakfast. It was odd, who'd stalk a handful of mages and thieves? Of course, thinking about the latter two of the party made Lugh realize that a stalker wouldn't be tremendously far-fetched. And if that wasn't enough, Lugh's dad did break out of a prison not too long ago. With a small sigh, Lugh realized their little mission would have some complications after all.

The day's journey ended and it grew dark as they entered the small town of Pherae. Though two of Elibe's greatest generals in recent times had come from here, Pherae was even now just a small town surrounding the castle. A handful of fortresses surrounded the area, but there were no walls to this place scarcely larger than a village. Ostia was a big city because aside from being the seat of the Lycian Alliance turned Kingdom, it straddled the road leading into Etruria, cutting through two mountain ranges. Araphen was the second biggest city in Lycia because it touched the border with both Bern and Sacae and sat upon the easiest passage between Lycia and the two other nations. Trade had made these cities large and prosperous. It was the real reason why places like Laus were small and impoverished and places like Cornwall didn't exist anymore; business had brought prosperity to certain aptly placed territories of Lycia and doom to others in the recent years.

That, and of course a certain man named Nergal and a certain country named Bern had wiped out nearly half of the noble houses between them. Cornwall, Santaruz, Caelin, Araphen, Laus, and Thria had all been dissolved by now. Each had been divided amongst the remaining houses; Khathelet and Tuscana had gotten some possessions from the defeated houses, but it was clear Ostia and Pherae had gotten the lion's share of eastern and northern Lycia under their flag. The marriage between Lilina and Roy had meant a marriage of territories that encompassed two-thirds of Lycia. It was nearly easy to get the other third to come around and unite as one kingdom, even despite it being mere months since the war's end.

But looking at the sleepy town of Pherae, you wouldn't think that this was the residence of one of the most powerful noble houses in all of Lycia… or indeed the world. It was true that Pherae's riches had grown in recent years, but the town was in no way a center of trade. Truth be told, Pherae lorded over some of the most sparsely populated areas of the Kingdom. A small group of people spread over a large area and the fact that the only route to anywhere else out of Pherae was a deadly mountainous pass into Bern meant that Pherae hadn't shown the kind of growth other Lycian cities like Araphen and Ostia had.

For Erk, it brought back a flood of memories. The years he'd spent in Pherae with his beautiful lady and his twin boys were the happiest he'd ever experienced. The town was not far from the sea; Erk and Nino bought a small plot of beachfront land from Eliwood and built a cottage there. The little home they'd built together looked as though it had been dropped into a cheerful little garden. The glade they'd chosen was awash in a rainbow of colorful flowers, bushes, and trees. Things seemed to just spring out of the ground, including all manner of herbs and rare plants. Nino went a little nutty with horticulture, but nonetheless it was very handy for making vulneraries and elixirs to sell in town. It was the perfect place to raise two boys.

Memories of days they spent together echoed through Erk's mind. His children giggled when he put on a silly hat in the marketplace and wore a menagerie of faces for them. Nino cheered her little boys on as Erk taught them to swim in the ocean… whist learning how to properly do so himself too. Nino gifted dear friends an unending flow of graciousness when they came around for a cup of tea. Rebecca and Nino filled whole days with girlish giggles on gossip-filled visits. The ocean filled whole nights with a calm lullaby so successful that it blew any of Erk's attempts to get his boys to sleep right out of the water…

And then the night Nino disappeared came. Not a word was spoken or written to tell Erk why or where. He could only piece together what had happened but despite this he followed her. Perhaps it had been a bit unlike him to be so careless… to fall practically into a trap laid out for him. But Nino had been the best thing that had ever happened to the orphaned boy from Aquleia, the best in a handful of truly good things in Erk's life. He wouldn't bare losing his lady… or worse, not knowing if she was still out there or not.

When Erk last left this small town 9 years ago, he'd left a home he'd made to be filled with love and he'd left his two wonderful sons to an unknown future. Despite how much Lugh, Lleu, and Erk had changed in all that time, the town itself looked hardly changed. It pissed Erk off; why the hell should Pherae be just as wonderful as before when Erk himself was so different? He let out a labored sigh. "Do you boys remember this place?" he asked.

As the twins surveyed the town, they both nodded. "Yeah," spoke Lugh, his voice so uncharacteristically low and melancholy, "I remember."

"So much has changed since then," said Lleu, "why do I have so many memories of this place? Why do they all hurt now?" Lugh put his hand on his brother's shoulder. Sophia looked silently on at the young Archsage and his brother, for a moment lost in memory. In fact, all of them could relate one way or another to the twins… perhaps it was a classic case of misery loving some company or maybe it was just a fact that life was that hard.

Erk pulled his sons into a small hug. "C'mon, let's go find the inn, we're all exhausted. Try not to dwell on those memories too much… at least until tomorrow."

The twins nodded at this, their eyes already half-shut from the long day's journey. Again, they dug into the vast coffers of Hugh and were able to get themselves a room for each gender. Within ten minutes everyone was out like a blown candle… except Lugh.

Lugh lay in the shadows of the inn's common room nearby the door to his room. He was sure he was out of sight, long having learned a few tricks from Chad. He did this because a cloaked figure sat by the fireplace quietly with features completely obscured. Lugh was sure this was the same figure he'd spotted in Ostia and also the mysterious follower of their day's travel. He was now piecing together a way to confront this figure.

His head perked up when he saw the figure rise and start walking towards one of the rooms. Lugh made his move at that point. Despite his boots, he moved silently as he could towards this figure. Evidently it was working because this person wasn't turning around… he was glad what he'd learned from Chad was enough. He recited the incantations in his head and readied a modified fire spell; it had a small range but was deadly and perfect for assassination. He was close enough now; he grabbed the figure and spoke immediately, "You have been following us all day. Who are you?" He held his spell in his right hand whist holding the figure with his left, ready to cast a fiery doom upon this bizarre figure.

The figure turned to face Lugh and gasped. The hood came off and Lugh was surprised of what he'd found enough to say out loud, "Jenifer?" Letting go and quickly retracting his spell, the girl moved away from him. "What are you doing here?"

She looked distressed, her forest green eyes perhaps ready to cry. "I wanted to come with you, Lugh," she replied, "It took a lot to catch up to you."

"How come you hid from us all cloak and dagger like?" asked Lugh.

"I've just heard about bandits that steal away young girls like me," replied Jenifer, "plus I… I was afraid you'd be angry if you found out I was following you… Are you angry at me?"

"Not at all," said Lugh, his green eyes filled with kindness, "Is everything alright with your family? Are you okay?"

Jenifer moved near the fireplace and stared pensively at the embers. "My father and my brother are dead," she spoke, "ever since she heard the news, my mother has been a nervous wreck. But me… I can't just lay idle like that. I have to do something… but I didn't have a clue what." She looked up at the green haired boy, "Then I met you. You seemed to come into my life at just the right time. Your story broke my heart, Lugh. I… want to join you. I want to help you and in so doing I will avenge the death of my big brother and father."

Lugh was speechless for a moment. Truth be told at first he thought she'd just come to be his girlfriend or something but this was a healthy chunk more serious. "I can't deny something this important," he said, "I'd be happy to have you help, Jenifer."

She rushed up and hugged him. "Thank you, Lugh," she said, "you're so sweet."

In his heart, he knew Jenifer's desire for revenge was troubling… but he could have a chat with her about that later. Right now, Lugh was happier than he'd ever been. His secret crush was hugging him right now and it felt wonderful. He wrapped his arms around her, "That's what friends are for." _And boyfriends,_ thought the boy as he let his fantasies play a bit as he held the girl in his arms.

"It's late," she said finally.

"It is," concurred Lugh, "let's get some sleep."

"Alright," said Jenifer. She released herself and smile at the green-head. "Good night, Lugh."

"Good night, Jenifer," replied the boy. They walked off into their respective rooms. As Lugh's head hit his pillow, he could barely contain all the joy in his heart enough to pass out.

The next morning, the rest of the party discovered their latest addition. They were mostly cordial as they munched over breakfast, but Erk did say, "I hope you didn't leave your family in the middle of the night."

Jenifer hesitated before she answered, "What if I did?"

Erk shrugged, "Then I should expect Raven to burst through that door… now!" Everyone looked at the door, expectedly. "Now," repeated Erk. Still the door remained stable. "Hmm… I guess not."

The door burst open and everyone in the inn was completely taken aback. The figure had red hair and he was generally of the same height as Raven… but as he moved into the inn and away from the daylight enough to see his features it turned out he wasn't Raven. Instead, it was Eliwood. "I heard you were back in town," he said, "I just couldn't bring myself to believe it!"

Erk stood and shook the man's hand heartily, "It's good to see you again, Eliwood."

Eliwood pulled Erk (somewhat helplessly) into a bone-crushing hug. "It'd be impossible not to say the same to you, my friend, considering you've come back from the dead." He let go of Erk, prompting a gasp from the latter and a chuckle from his sons.

Gaining his footing quickly, Erk said, "Well, let's just say reports of my death were greatly exaggerated."

"It's a tail that I surely should hear," spoke Eliwood as he eyed Erk's appearance, "I can see you've been through a lot, my friend. Still, you look great."

"And you as well, Lord Eliwood," responded Erk.

"Man," whispered Lleu to his brothers, "I hope we don't spend all day saying to each other how great we look when we're old guys like dad."

Chad and Lugh giggled a bit but Hugh interjected, "Just you wait, squirts." It caught the trio off guard.

Even so, Eliwood did look better than he did during the start of the war with Bern. His illness had long since passed. He'd gained back much of his lost weight from the illness; his cheekbones were less pronounced and his cheeks looked less shrunken. As always, his azure eyes radiated a kindness he'd shared with both his father and his son, and he wore a pensive smile as he regarded Erk. He was taller than Erk by a couple of inches but would probably be dwarfed by the likes of Murdock or Hector and he had a thin, nimble build to him. On this day, he wore a long coat with an upturned collar much like he did in the days when he traveled with Erk, though this one went down to his ankles and it was guided with gold in a different pattern. Also like his earlier days, he wore a sort of cloak-cape hybrid, blue on the outside and red on the inside, bunched up over his collarbones before flowing down his back. White trousers, blue calf-hugging boots, and his trusty rapier ever at his side completed his wardrobe, not at all the vestments of a noble expected to spend the day at court but instead that of one who was expecting to spend the day traveling.

Erk introduced his sons and companions to Eliwood before adding, "I suppose I owe you an explanation."

"I can't say you owe it to me, Erk," said Eliwood, "but I also can't deny that I'm curious as to what's transpired in the past nine years since we spoke last."

"I suppose we can take some time for that," said Erk.

"Dad," began Lleu, "can we see the old house too?"

"Perfect," said Erk, "the walk there should take enough time to catch up."

"Lead the way," spoke Eliwood.

They finished breakfast soon thereafter and the lot of them left the inn at that point. Eliwood paid his respects to the innkeeper. It seemed more that they were good friends rather than lord and subject. Pherae had always seemed to be a laid back territory within the League. When Eliwood was born, all Pherae had going for it was a marquis that wasn't an incompetent fool. It was an outlaying territory of sparse population, far from the corruption, seedy nobility, and unfair business practices that existed in Ostia and Araphen. Since Eliwood had assumed the throne, the territory had gone from being a backwater frontier to one of the biggest powers within the League, but Eliwood had always been insistent to keep the place from all the vile things that power brought. He maintained a humble demeanor that had attracted mocking jeers from his more moronic colleagues (some thankfully killed off in the last war). He forwent the copious luxuries that said colleagues had become notorious and hated for. His kindness, his tolerance, and his easy-going nature were well known to those in Pherae and beyond, but his swift judgment and justice were just as well known. And so Pherae became known as a refuge, a place to move to in order to get away from the corrupt places of the rest of the world. One could live a quiet life here in a community of kindness, simplicity, and acceptance.

They walked from the center of Pherae towards the ocean west of town. Erk and Eliwood walked side by side as the former relayed his long tale to the latter. Ahead of them, Lugh and Lleu told their friends about their time in Pherae. They were only four when they left this place, but memories seemed to flood back. The others seemed to stay in a polite silence, watching as the brothers helped each other remember and told them about what came to mind… It seemed as though they were letting out things that they hadn't spoken about in years, even Lleu, or perhaps especially Lleu. It was neigh impossible to tell the difference between the twins at that moment in time, apart from their clothing. Both of their faces were alight as they recounted their recollections. It was the first time any of them had seen the twins like this, aside from Chad, and even Chad hadn't seen them like this in a while.

"There it is!" cried Lleu. Lugh took off running towards the little glade, followed a split second later by Lleu. The twins stopped near the middle of the glade, faces that were just a few seconds before lit up with happy memories now faded to despair. They looked down at the ground, eyes near tears. Lleu reached for Lugh's arm, Lugh taking Lleu's in kind. They stood there, in the middle of a broken dream, each of their hands linking with the other's arm.

As the others finally reached the glade, the trees that had hidden the sight that had made the twins nearly cry was revealed. The cottage was once bright, cheerful; a place to call home. It lay in ruins now. About half of the roof had fallen in. The walls remained intact, but vegetation had grown up it in the process of converting the walls to rubble. The doors had fallen; the shutters were unhinged from the windows. This glade had once been a garden but now was overgrown with weeds and undergrowth. It was peaceful here; the ocean even could be heard in the distance breathing a calm lull. To any bystander, this place was merely in happy decay. To Lugh and Lleu, it was a realization of a ruined childhood, a ruined family.

It was too much to bear. Lleu went to his knees and was the first to sob. Lugh joined him not long after. There was no wailing, no boo-hooing. They simply sniffled quietly and let the tears flow. They couldn't be strong anymore; they couldn't take any more pain and put it inside. Maybe they both were still young enough to let such things go with tears, maybe they'd spent too long holding in what should've been let out.

Chad, Cath, Hugh, Jenifer, Eliwood, and Erk didn't know exactly what to do. Perhaps it wasn't right to disturb them, perhaps the twins needed to let it out in peace. The twins eventually held each other and cried quietly. Withstanding the awkwardness no longer, Erk approached the boys, kneeling to pull them into a hug. "You've been strong for too long, my sons," he spoke, "you've felt so much pain." They were silent for a moment, "I wish it didn't turn out this way." Erk sighed, "All the wishing in the world won't bring it back."

Lleu cleared his eyes. "I know that," he said, "Damnit, I know it! Why does it still hurt so much?"

"If we hit our hand against a table, do we ask the table why it hurt us?" asked Erk to his son cosmically. Lleu shook his head and Erk tousled the lad's green hair, "All we can do is accept it… acknowledge it. I've seen men consumed by their pain because they could not bring themselves to deal with it. We decide if we're better than all the pain we've received, my sons." He looked at Lugh and Lleu, studying his now teenaged sons, "I know it still hurts. It's okay to let it out sometimes. It's healthier than keeping it in until it becomes hate. It doesn't make you weak, it makes you stronger." Lleu nodded slowly at this. This insight of his father's was something of a new leaf for Lleu to turn over. They lay there together for a short while more. The twins had stopped crying and dried their tears slowly. "Want to look around?" asked Erk. The brothers nodded and Erk stood. Brushing themselves off, the three of them went back to where everyone else was standing. Apologies began to fill the air, but the others assured them how unnecessary that was.

Jenifer considered the words Erk had said to his sons as she studied the wall of the cottage. She thought about her father and brother… maybe Erk was right about pain and her desire for revenge was a little rash. "Hey," said a voice. She looked up and found Cath staring at her, "You alright? You're kind of… in a trance or something"

Jenifer shrugged at the other girl. "Erk said some heavy things," she said.

"Tell me about it," chuckled Cath. She perked her eyebrow, "Do you think he's right?"

"About pain?" asked Jenifer. Cath nodded. "It seems like it. It made me think about the family I lost in the war… will revenge get them back?"

Cath had a pensive moment as she considered what to say next. "Will stealing get my village back?" she blurted out.

"Huh?" asked Jenifer.

Cath shook her head, "Nothing. Maybe Erk is right."

"I'm sorry Erk," said Eliwood to Erk. Erk was inspecting the ruined remains of his library. The shelves seemed to be in a slow process of falling down and falling apart. The books were gone.

"It's no harm done, Lord Eliwood," said Erk, "I'm glad that you were at least forward enough to save my books."

"I only entered this house six months after you'd gone," said Eliwood, "I figured you'd want the books preserved."

"It was thoughtful of you to do that," said Erk. He turned back to the house, "I'm surprised everything else is here. I'd think vandals would've gotten to it… or something."

"It was a good hiding place," offered Eliwood, "it's still in your name, by the way."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Erk. He looked at his sons through a doorway into another room… their old bedroom. "Perhaps I opened too many old wounds visiting this place…"

"Your sons are strong young men, Erk," spoke Eliwood, "Roy never failed to mention them in the letters to me. He was always going on about how Lugh and Lleu would take on entire battalions all by themselves. I think he took two pages just to describe the terrifying flurry of dark—"

"Elder," said Lleu and Erk at the same time.

Eliwood cracked a large smile. "—Elder, sorry… The Elder and Anima magic that the 'Green Team' would cast. I think the words my son used were 'a cloud of fire and darkness 1000 feet high that was enough to make even the most hardened Bernese wet themselves.' I can't imagine you aren't proud."

"Oh don't worry, I am," chuckled Erk. "Incidentally, how's Rebecca? Isn't she usually at your side?"

Eliwood nodded. "She's well," he said, "I sent her to Ostia to help with Roy, she'll be due back in a few days."

"Anyone else from back in the day still around?" asked Erk.

"Marcus serves still as Knight Commander, but it's more an honorary title at his age… I think he'd break down in sobs if I asked him to retire, so I won't. Lowen, Wil, Harken, and Isadora are still around. Most are out running errands for me still all over Elibe, but they're all well and mostly retired."

"I'd like to see them again," said Erk. Eliwood nodded at this.

Lugh, Lleu, Chad, and Sophia went out the back doorway (there was no door anymore). "Back here Mom would have her herb garden. Some of the best hiding places were back here," said Lugh.

"Yeah," sighed Lleu, "I can almost still smell the jasmine and dragonsbane… I used to lay here on summer's nights and wait for the sun to set."

"I can still feel… the calm," spoke Sophia, "there… is a lingering… happiness I feel."

"You can feel that?" asked Lugh.

"Dragons… can 'smell' emotions," replied Sophia cautiously.

"You mean you can smell fear?" asked Lleu.

"No… smell is… only an approximation," replied Sophia, "It is… hard to describe…"

"Well, I still think it's cool," said Lleu. Lugh and Lleu lead Sophia around the house, Jenifer joined them and so did Hugh, who'd been around the front.

Chad was alone in the ruined garden… but having Cath around meant he was often never alone, except perhaps in the loo. "Hey Cath," he said instinctively.

"Well damn, I could've sworn I've been getting better," said Cath as she jumped out of her hiding spot. "What's on your mind?"

Chad smirked at her, "Any particular reason why you're asking me that?"

"Oh, I just noticed you're a little down. I can tell these things, you know. Part of being the Master Thief," she tossed innocently, "I expect I'll have to get used to it, you turning 14 in a couple of days and all. I'm sure there are tons of teenaged hormones flushing through your head right now."

"Cath…" said Chad with a glare.

"Hey, don't glare at me;" protested Cath, "I'm just speaking the truth here. But seriously, what's the matter?"

"I don't know," said Chad, "I really don't know if I should be glad or sad that I didn't go through what Lugh and Lleu went through… or if I'm jealous. I mean, I did see someone I loved get mauled by Bernese troops and the only home I'd known get burned to the ground… but I was already an orphan then. I've always been an orphan so I never knew my parents or my family. A home like this was never mine to be taken from."

"And your jealous because Lugh and Lleu did have this?" asked Cath.

"Not really," replied Chad, "should I really want a home and parents in my memories only to have it taken away from me forever?" Cath nodded thoughtfully. "Lugh, Lleu, and I always could relate to each other. We grew up together from the day they showed up at the orphanage and we were always pretty much brothers, even if we weren't related by blood. But… it's things like this that remind me we aren't real brothers… They had a life here before they knew me and now they have their dad and soon their mom back… I have neither of those things. I'm still just a worthless orphan."

Part of her wanted to tell him that he wasn't worthless, that he was the sweetest, handsomest, cutest boy in the universe… all that sort of junk. Alas the other part of Cath couldn't deal with all this angsty/mushy stuff. "I don't like situations like this," she said, "I thought I told you to live more optimistically, Chad."

With a quirked eyebrow and crossed arms Chad said, "And I thought you said you're going to have to get used to my teenaged hormones… sloshing around my head, was it?"

"Yeah, well, doesn't mean I can't convince you to stop being so broody," protested Cath. She rushed up and hugged him, "Besides, you have no reason to be sad; I love you." _Oh my God, did I just say that?!_ Immediately her eyes grew wider than a pair of saucers.

"W-What?" Chad's voice cracked and he held his throat with a blush. Clearing it, he repeated himself, "What? Did you just say what I thought you said?"

Cath rolled her eyes. _No getting out of it now._ "Yeah," she said, "I love you, pretty much. Messy hair, broody stare, cracky voice, all of you really. So stop being so sad and mopey all the time, okay? Because someone loves you and that's that." She squeezed him tightly before she let him go. "C'mon, the others probably are wondering where we are." She took his hand and led him out to the front of the cottage.

"I'd like to spend more time here," said Erk when Chad and Cath joined them, "but we do have to get a move on. We'll come back through here once we rescue Nino, I promise it. We'll visit the beach too." They started back towards the town.

"I'd like that," said Eliwood, "and so would everyone else who's still around. I'm sure Marcus, Rebecca… probably everybody would love to see you again, in fact. When you get back we should hold a homecoming festival."

"Oh, Lord Eliwood, I don't think that's necessary," protested Erk.

"After what you've been through, I can't imagine anything else, Erk," said Eliwood, "at the very least we should have some sort of get-together to celebrate all the good tidings."

"Perhaps," said Erk, "thank you, Eliwood… for everything."

"It's the least I can do," said Eliwood, "you were a honored neighbor and you are a good friend."

When the time came for the company to mount their horses, Eliwood offered them all the finest weapons from his armory and the best provisions in town but only accepted their decline when he saw what they had already. He shook all of their hands and bid them a fond farewell with a wish for only the most auspicious of luck.

"He certainly is Roy's father," said Cath once they were outside town going east, "and he didn't have a thing on him that I could steal… aside from that sword which he just had to have his hand on constantly… ugh, I'm a failure as a thief."

"So you're a failure because a guy had nothing for you to steal?" asked Chad.

"Yep," nodded Cath, "so you are taking notes from me on being a Master Thief, partner! I'm so proud!" Chad slapped his forehead.

"If we're lucky, we should be able to reach the fort just after nightfall," spoke Erk.

"Are we that close?" asked Hugh.

"As far as I can figure," replied Erk, "the fort was very close to the Lycian border… it's really only barely out of the foothills into the Western Bernese mountains."

"So what's our plan of attack?" asked Hugh.

"It's simple," said Erk, "we wait until the wee hours of the morning before we attack. That way they'll be taken off guard."

"We're attacking in the middle of the night?" Hugh asked.

"Trust me, Hugh, I lived there for nine years," said Erk, "I know when the least amount of people are awake there. Nino and I planned this, it's best we attack in the dead of night."

"Works for me," said Cath, "let's do this thing."

"That's the spirit," smiled Erk, "c'mon, let's get Nino! Ha!" His horse fell into a gallop across the grassy meadows of Northern Pherae. Erk's sons laughed and followed suit, closely followed themselves by their friends, relatives, and girlfriends. Finally, it seemed, their journey was nearing at an end.

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><p>The Doctor: Yay, finally we're nearing the end of this FanFic! :D<p>

The Doctor: I can see the reviews; "meh, you suck, Doc, it were terrible, ermehgad." Well, maybe so, but yeah, I'd encourage any nasty comments you have about my writing... it's the only way I can improve myself, you know!

The Doctor: Anyways, lots of deep stuff here, innit? I must say I still love writing for Cath, she's one of the funnest characters in the series. Poor Chad, he's left out because his friends are experiencing old wounds reopened and he isn't. And also my OC finally joins the party! XP

The Doctor: Oh yes, a bit of my head-canon appears here... Primarily the bit about Pherae gaining territories and holding land in the time from the beginning of FE7 to the end of FE6 but Eliwood being still a humble fellow, raising Roy not to be snobby and such. I'll spare you my lengthy explanation about all that (I almost did put something like that here...), but if you want to chat about that aspect, feel free to ask/comment/complain in your review.

The Doctor: So, you might be asking, "Are you going to update 'Resurrection' too?" My answer is "probably not." Primarily because that's way not near being done and it was written a million years ago... I'm really only continuing this because it's so near the word "done" that I can't resist its call. Rest assured, though, that this won't be my last Fire Emblem FanFic and I already have some other stuff I'm contemplating publishing. No promises, though.

The Doctor: Hmm... it's so odd not having muses around... I might pull them out of space and resuscitate them (like that one sci-fi video game trilogy... bloody hell, my memory's not what it used to be...) but only if I'm in a good mood. :3

The Doctor: So yeah; Review me please... covered in cheese... or something. I used to do that with MuseEwan at the end of the entry before I shoved him out an airlock... Seriously, though, review this! plznthx


	12. The Fortress

Hm... Seems the cynicism of my previous chapter's A/N's scared people away... or maybe it was the awfulness of the first nine chapters of the story... Hard to say. I'll refrain from being *too* cynical here, it is supposed to be funfunfun! ^_^

Anyway, this is it. The last, final chapter of this, my first real fan fiction. It's hard to believe that something I started writing four years ago in response to another fanfic whist I was sick has taken me this far... Really, it's kind of pathetic that it took me four whole years to finish this. Alas, some people never finish their stuff, so I suppose it isn't that bad...

Enjoy this chapter, please, and also remember this: I don't own the Fire Emblem; at various points in history, Ike, Eliwood, Roy, Ephraim, Sigurd, Marth, and Chrom have owned them (to name a handful) but currently, Nintendo and Intelligent Systems possess its powers.

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><p>Chapter Eleven<p>

The Fortress

For the first time since they'd left Reglay, they'd encountered terrain that was less than ideal. Shortly after turning off of the roads, the company came into the foothills of the mountain range separating Bern and Lycia. The terrain became quickly rocky and their pace slowed massively. It was tedious to lead the horses over the pass and Hugh volunteered to take the horses back to Pherae. Despite the vast protests of Lugh and Lleu, it was necessary. The day was already growing short and they'd only just entered the mountains. Hugh found himself beset by hugs and well wishes that he returned in no small amount before he departed.

On foot and without horses to contend with, the company found it surprisingly easier to navigate the mountains. Erk remained ever determined as though a divine force was guiding him and petty things such as injury, starvation, or morale would not deter him. It was a taste of a cause for worry for the twins. Not long afterwards, they came to an outcropping with a rather spectacular view. Ahead was a small valley. Surrounded on all sides by mountains twice the elevation of the hill they were on, the valley was more of a bowl in shape. In the middle was a small hill and upon it looked to be the ruins of a castle, about a mile distant from their position now. Several of the towers were inaccessible and crumbling and the wall was in pieces. The valley was peaceful; shrubs, grass, and wildflowers bloomed in all sorts of colors and all the vegetation seemed to be intruding on the castle. Not a sound of activity came from the castle.

"Are you sure this is it?" asked Chad.

"Positive," replied Erk, "I took the exact same route up here nine years ago and was captured just a few miles to the south."

"The place has really let itself go," commented Lleu, "was it this dilapidated when you escaped?"

"It was the middle of the night," replied Erk, "I didn't notice."

"It doesn't sound like there's anybody in there;" said Cath, "let's just go now."

"No, not yet," said Erk, "it just may be that that's what this mercenary group wants everybody to think when they find the place… especially after Bern lost the war." He put his pack down and sat on the grass, "No, it's best we wait until nightfall, just to be on the safe side."

There were some shrugs before everybody else followed suit. Sophia got into a conversation with Erk and Lugh discreetly poked his brother. When Lleu looked at him, he nodded away from the rest of the group. Lleu followed his brother quietly away, probably to have a word with him. "What's up?" asked Lleu once they were on the other side of the hill, out of earshot.

"I'm worried about Dad," said Lugh.

"What do you mean?" asked Lleu.

"Lleu, look at that fortress," said Lugh, "it's obviously been abandoned for years. You and I have both seen our fair share of run down forts."

"Your point?" asked Lleu.

"What if dad didn't escape from the fortress? What if the mercenary group was destroyed and he was released? What if he wandered for years on his own?" offered Lugh.

"Those are big if's, Lugh," said Lleu, "Why would he do that? How could he forget us for years and years?"

Lugh leaned towards his brother, "What if mom died years ago? What if he went crazy with grief?"

Lleu processed the possibility. "You're jumping to conclusions," he said to his brother.

"Maybe," Lugh nearly muttered, "but you can't deny it's a possibility."

"Fine, it's a possibility," Lleu crossed his arms defiantly, "but even if it is, so what? He's our father and he's back in our lives. Shouldn't we be grateful he came back at all, Lugh? If he is… insane… then, well, we should help him! He's the only family we've got left if mom's really dead." He looked at the ruined fort, choosing his words carefully. "Lugh, just having my dad back in my life has really changed me for the better," he felt the gold band encamped in his hair, "Look at me now, I'm a freaking Archsage and I have a girlfriend… that's better than where I was two months ago, ready to throw my life away to the darkness… Daddy coming back into our lives showed me just how much I have to live for. I don't want to lose him again. Not so soon after he came back…"

Lugh felt tears in his eyes when he brushed his hand against them. "Okay, Lleu, I get it," he said and he let out a long sigh, "I guess we'll know for sure what the real story is tonight." Lleu nodded.

With the three girls chatting a number of feet away and Lugh and Lleu talking to each other on the other side of the hill, Erk found himself alone. Well, mostly alone. Chad rested against a small embankment and stared longingly at Lugh and Lleu. He looked a little melancholy and sad; though Erk had noticed Chad was often like this. "Are you alright, Chad?" asked Erk.

Chad regarded his best friends' father, "Just a little left out… to be honest."

Erk moved and sat at the boy's side on the embankment, "I suppose it's because of me, isn't it?"

"Well, I…" began Chad, "It isn't like it's your fault or anything…" The purple-haired man looked at Chad before the latter continued, "Lugh and Lleu had a life before they came to the orphanage; they had you once. I never had anything like that. For a long time while we grew up it didn't matter, though. We were pretty much the same age, we had to help Father look after all the younger kids. We were like the triplet older brothers of all the Little Ones… Then Lleu ran away as soon as we heard Bern had invaded Sacae… and, well, one war later they found out you were alive. It makes me realize that we're not really brothers, we're just friends and you're my friends' dad."

"You know it doesn't have to be that way if you don't want that," mused Erk.

"Huh?" asked Chad.

"You've been a brother to my sons when they had nobody else in the world," said Erk, "I can never repay you in any way for that, Chad. Please know that." He studied the intensity of Chad's eyes. The boy was far more intelligent that he probably ever let on. "But perhaps you'll allow me to be your father?"

"You mean you'd want to… adopt m-me?" asked Chad.

"Only if you'd want to," said Erk.

Those eyes were near tears of joy… but Chad would never let that on. He tore his gaze away from Erk's. "Why would you do that?" asked Chad, "Just because I'm your sons' friend doesn't mean I'm worth adopting…"

"I think you are," replied Erk, "I think you're worth more than you think you are."

Chad kept his cool demeanor. "I'd have to think about it," he nearly muttered.

Erk could see in a subtle way that the boy was basking in long overdue joy and love… but he still remained cold as a sort of defense. "I understand, of course," Erk said. He realized he would be blessed to call this boy his son.

The sun was beginning to set now as Lugh and Lleu rejoined their father and friends. Erk stared at the fortress, Chad, Cath, Jenifer, and Sophia seated beside him before Lleu and Lugh squeezed in. "Nine years I've been dreaming of this moment," he told his sons, "nine years… Now that I'm here, it just doesn't seem as fulfilling as I thought it would be."

"We create the size… of our problems in our heads," mused Sophia, "sometimes when we face our opposition… it seems smaller than we thought."

"Not everything like that can be overestimated," countered Lleu, "I mean we faced off against freaking dragons. That's not something that's ever taken lightly."

"That's true," Sophia muttered.

"In this case," said Erk, "I guess all that is left to do now is sit and wait. Underestimating or not, making a mistake would be more than unfortunate."

The sun set beautifully through the mountains. All the time they observed it, the fort was silent, continuing its look of abandonment. The stars came out and most everybody took the opportunity to get some shut-eye. Erk stayed awake as a vigil. They couldn't have a fire but most of them worried more about being assaulted by wild animals than being discovered by a nearby fort that—at best—wasn't very active given how abandoned it looked.

The stars glistened and rotated as the night continued. It was incredibly still out. Only a breath of wind would penetrate the calm. It was like the night itself was asleep, pleasantly sighing only once in a while. Looking at the stars and recalling the fuzzy memories of his star charts for this time of year, Erk decided it had grown late enough. The men of this fort would scarcely conceive of an attack in the wee hours of the morning.

Erk poked his son sleeping at his side. By the robes, it looked to be Lleu. The boy stirred from his slumber and looked up at his father, who said, "Time to wake." Lleu helped Erk wake everyone else without much mishap. Erk looked at the assembled friends of his sons. They didn't look like much, really just a group of children barely old enough to be considered teenagers… Of course most of them had faced off against dragons and the previously most powerful nation on the continent. In a way, it was perfect; any opposition inside might hesitate when they saw a small boy faced against them… before being burnt alive by one of Erk's 13 year old sons.

Still, seeing such young faces in the dark prompted Erk to say a few words. "Listen," he said, "this has been my mission… my dream for a long time. I've brought you into a mess that should be my problem alone. To be perfectly honest, if you were mercenaries… or even if you all were older, I wouldn't be saying this. I don't doubt your abilities but I want you to know that I won't force you to accompany me into that fort. Many men who occupy that fort will die tonight. We'll be killing them, their crimes over the years more than justify such death. You may have done things like this in the past, but if you don't want to be responsible for more death for my sake, please don't hesitate to say so."

Erk waited for the responses… but no one said a word. A moment more passed before Lugh ignited a fireball, illuminating his face with dark shadows. "Dad, we're all in this with you until the end," he said, "now let's go get Mom back!"

There was a round of cheers from the other 12 and 13 year olds (though Sophia was in her eighties or so). Erk couldn't have found a more deadly group of young teens if he tried. "All right, then. Let's move," he said.

Lugh doused his fireball but it seemed that whatever lingered in the fortress hadn't taken notice of the light anyway. They made their way down the hill and into the valley. Chad and Cath lead the group at this point; their eyes more acclimated to the darkness than their friends. They crossed a dilapidated moat. Most of the water had gone and they could cross over the remainder with ease. "This brings back memories," muttered Erk, "it seems they haven't done well over the years."

"To the point where they've abandoned the castle for some time?" offered Cath.

"It may be possible," said Erk, "no doubt something has happened recently…"

They climbed up the embankment leading to the castle and came to the collapsed wall. "Easiest castle I've ever broken into," commented Cath quietly.

"What do you see?" asked Erk from the side of the embankment.

"You'd want to see this yourself, I think," said Chad. One by one the others joined the thieves inside the fort's courtyard. Most of the interior of the fort was open; there was otherwise a stone keep of sorts on one side opposite from the group and entrances to a few towers that populated the walls. It seemed there had once been tents pitched all along the dirt ground inside the fort but all that remained of each a dozen or so tents were stakes on the ground and a charred square of burnt canvas.

"I guess it's safe to say nobody's here to slay anymore," said Cath. From her bag, she produced a pair of torches. She lit them both before handing one to Chad. With this, they could see more clearly the ruined ground that had once been the heart of a bandit's fort.

"My God," remarked Erk as he approached the new centerpiece of the fort. There were dozens of bodies piled into a heap that looked to have been burnt, though the people had probably been killed prior to being set alight. There was a head on a spike, staring ominously out into the distance, and stuck to the spike above the head was a piece of paper, seemingly rather official. Wincing with a bit of a frown at the gnarly stench, Erk took the paper off of the pike with the rotting head and said, "Could you bring that torch over here, please?"

Once Chad obliged, Erk read, "By order of High Queen Guinevere of Bern, the Golden Hand of Bowlhollow Keep are hereby sentenced to death by assault…" he mumbled a bit, skipping over bits that weren't as important, "…charges are as such: banditry, damage of property of Bern, damage of property of Lycia…" he mumbled some more, evidently there were a fat lot of charges, "…withholding prisoners of war, withholding citizens of Lyica and of Bern, and withholding property of the Kingdom of Bern." He let the paper fall to the ground, "How ironic," he said.

"What do you mean, dad?" asked Lugh.

"This couldn't have happened more than a week ago," said Erk, indicating the corpses, "Nino and I went to all that trouble to escape this place when in a matter of weeks we would've been liberated." He shook his head and looked up at the keep. "Where did they take her?" he mumbled.

A small light appeared in the keep's highest tower window; a candle's flicker. "Dad!" gasped Lleu.

"I saw it," said Erk, "c'mon." They all raced for the keep's entrance. The great wooden door opened with minimal effort on Erk's part. He gestured for his companions to stay quiet and behind him. He ascended the spiral stone staircase leading to the tower atop the keep slowly and quietly, ever ready to charge a spell in his hand.

As he approached the door of wood leading to the top of the tower, he looked back at his companions. All were as ready as he was, for a fight, for a surprise, for anything; spells or daggers in hand. Erk was ready for answers to questions lingering far too long and with that, he pushed the door open.

A figure in a cloak turned around with a casual smile on his face. He sat on a stool at a bedside, another figure lay upon it. The room had once been the fort commander's quarters but most of the opulence had been looted or otherwise destroyed. The solitary candle lit the room from a small table by the sole glass-less window.

Erk had calculated several possibilities but not this. The figure on the bed was a woman, dressed now in a simple cotton gown in undyed beige. She slept so peacefully. Her long hair was brushed and washed; it would flow down her sides and past her rear if she was standing. Her hair was like snow fallen onto still green leaves; much of it was white with small instances of green. Her face was hardened by years of pain but had retained a softness that attracted kindness and love. Tears in Erk's eyes filled in happy wells, "Nino."

As Erk walked over to the bed, the other figure watched him with the same small smile. He'd seemed to know Erk was coming. Dark clothing was complete with cloak and dagger, but the face was familiar. Deep tanned skin, brick-red hair, and sleeveless arms with those mirrored tattoos. His eyes had changed the most. No longer staring with death, he had a certain peace within them that one could imagine would be found after dying. His chin had matured a little, but he otherwise looked largely how he did 20 years ago. "Jaffar?" asked Erk.

Jaffar nodded serenely. "It's been a long time," he uttered in his deep, murmur prone voice.

"I assumed you'd be long dead by now," said Erk.

"Just the way I like it," the assassin said.

Erk shook his head, "Nino… How'd you know she was here? How'd you get here?"

"You look upon Ström, Minister of the Free Isle of Rùm," spoke Jaffar. His vocal tone changed, no longer quiet and with the confidence of a fearless leader or father.

"You jest," said Erk.

"Do I look like a jester to you?" asked Jaffar as he slipped into his previous voice. He smiled wider, "If I were born dead, such a title befits a suitable afterlife. Bounty hunters chased me for seven or eight years after we defeated Nergal," he turned his gaze to Chad and the boy found an unusual sadness in Jaffar's eyes, "I could never stop in one place for more than a fortnight… Companions I may have had died around me because even if they couldn't touch me, they could touch those around me…" He looked away, "I finally faked my own death convincingly enough and retired The Angel of Death for good. I ran for a few more years just to be safe… sometimes I forgot what I was running from.

"Then I entered the Western Isles," he continued, "I'd been travelling Elibe since before I was old enough to walk… but the tranquility of the west astounded me the most. I was caught in a rebellion on a small island a day's voyage west off the coast of Fibernia. I guess my experience worked best amongst the forces against Etruria and they made me their leader of sorts. It was the perfect cover… a new life, a new name." He looked back at Nino, "But even I can't keep running forever. I arrived in Bern not long after the end of the war… to look for Nino. I found this place when the Bernese were storming it and I took charge of her. Before I had no way of helping her, but now… I return the kindness she once gave me all those years ago."

Erk turned over Jaffar's story in his mind. He looked at his wife, "How is she?"

"Healing slowly; she needs rest now more than anything," replied Jaffar, "she's experienced so much… pain."

"I know," said Erk, "for the longest time I was powerless to stop it… seems even when I sought the help I needed I was too late." He looked at Jaffar, "Again I am eternally in your debt, Jaffar."

Jaffar nodded quietly. "Are these your children?" he asked.

Erk smiled warmly, "And their friends," he added. He introduced everyone as the sky grew lighter outside.

"Should we destroy it?" asked a boy's voice. There was a fog of darkness between Nino and the source of that voice.

"Leave it," said the voice of her husband, "let it rot where it is." She grew excited, trying to draw herself towards consciousness… but it was as though she were swimming toward a surface of water covered in ice. It was as if the ice blocking her from the consciousness she so desired hit her in the head and knocked her out… all was silent then.

A few fragments ebbed toward her from across a sea of darkness. She heard the boy's voice again, though no words could be deciphered. She heard Erk again… a girl's voice… cheering… more voices in conversation… but as soon as they came, they departed, leaving Nino as frustrated as before. She was exhausted, even trying to piece together all the events and time leading to now was too much of a task for the moment. She had to convince herself that she needed rest…

"It's certainly a fascinating tale, Erk," said Eliwood to Erk, "you should probably write a book about it." They walked down the central street of the town of Pherae. Despite being the late morning, activity in the town could best be described as sleepy. It was still a bit hard to believe two of the greatest heroes of an age came from this humble place.

"Perhaps," replied Erk, "but there's no telling if there aren't other places up there in the mountains holding all manner of prisoners illegally…"

"I guess it proves the legacies of Desmond and Zephiel will haunt us for several more years at least," said Eliwood, "had it been any different, Erk… if Hector and I weren't trying to appease Bern for so long… had I known how futile it would be…" Eliwood looked at Erk with eyes of regret. "I wish I could've saved my friends in time… Rath, Lucius, you… Hector…"

"It's all in the past now, Lord Eliwood," said Erk.

"But I had the power to do it!" protested Eliwood, "And instead of being the leader I should have been all those years, I fell for the twisted lies and stupidity of politics!" He sighed, "And in so doing, most of my friends are dead and even more suffered."

"You had no way of knowing how it would all turn out," Erk said, "all we can do now is act based on the best information available."

Eliwood nodded, "And hopefully things will finally turn around. With Guinevere on the throne in Bern and my son in charge of Lycia… perhaps there's hope. Perhaps I can finally deal with kidnappers and bandits like a proper Marquis…"

"Don't get too ahead of yourself," cautioned Erk, "you still have to ask your son before you can order an army to traipse through the wilderness." A grin grew on his face.

Eliwood laughed loudly, "Oh, you don't have to remind me." He put his palm on his forehead.

Cath watched Eliwood as he and Erk continued down the street out of earshot. From her place lounging against a shop's wall she seemed in a trance almost as she pondered what she'd eavesdropped. Chad crunched on an apple beside her and stirred her from her thoughts. He met her dirty look with a lazy expression. "He regrets a lot," said Cath.

"Who?" asked Chad.

"Eliwood, moron," replied Cath with rolled eyes, "Didn't you hear what he said as he walked by?"

"Sure I did," replied Chad.

"Well… do you think he means it?" asked Cath.

"Probably," said Chad, "not all nobles are corrupt and evil. Some are even human."

She rested her chin on her knees pensively, "I wonder if my father…"

"Sometimes they want to help but they can't," said Chad, "sometimes they realize the only way they can help the people they love is doing something they know is wrong… 'cus if they don't, even worse things will happen… I thought you'd have figured that out by now, Cath."

Cath slapped the boy on the cheek, "Cut me some slack, okay? Maybe it takes some time to get used to an idea."

Rubbing his cheek but with a grin, he said, "No wonder you're so bull headed."

"You! I'll get you for that!" she cried. Chad jumped up and ran for it while laughing. Cath chased him around the street and giggled.

Eventually she caught him and tickled the daylights out of him. "No more!" he pleaded but she just responded to him with giggles. After what seemed like twenty years, she relented, letting Chad finally have a breath. Cath looked up with some alarm on her face and Chad spent a few seconds realizing what she was looking at.

The man from before, the one who'd tended to Nino, now leaned against the wall of a building just a few feet from them. He had that same strange smile he'd had before on his face. Cath absently looked from the man, whom she remembered being called Jaffar, to Chad… there was something similar about their faces to be sure… Cath began to understand Chad's usual death-scowl a little better when she looked at the man.

"Who are you," asked Chad, "really?"

In response, the man played with a dagger for a moment. "I once tried seriously to start a family," Jaffar said, "I'd been travelling with a young thief for some time… She reminded me of Nino initially but there was so much we had in common. She was on the run from bounty hunters as was I… It wasn't long before we fell in love. We hid as she grew heavy with baby. I really thought I could protect her… but it was not to last. Not long after she gave birth bounty hunters sprang on her while she gathered herbs in a field. Our baby was without mother weeks after he was born… I knew I couldn't protect my son forever, I knew the life of a fugitive wouldn't be good for him. I gave him to an orphanage in the care of an old friend in Araphen… the boy was still so young but already I could see he'd have a beautiful head of sandy blond hair… his mother's hair."

Cath looked from Chad to Jaffar a few more times. Chad had tears in his eyes. Cath grew impatient with Chad and so asked the question for him, "You're his father?"

Jaffar shook his head, "I don't deserve to be called that by him," he said, "a father would've raised this boy despite everything and no matter the circumstances." He turned his head in order to try and conceal the tears in his eyes, "A father wouldn't dump his infant son at an orphanage so he wouldn't be slowed down… The pride I feel now in seeing you, Chad… I don't deserve to feel it."

Chad jumped up and ran down the street. He had to hide his crying. "Chad!" cried Cath. She turned to Jaffar, "A father wouldn't feel regret right now either," she said before hopping to her feet to follow Chad, "Chad!"

Jaffar turned over what Cath had said in his mind, "No I suppose not," he noted quietly. He held his head in sorrow.

It had been a long time since Nino had awoken in a bed. She slowly sat up, taking every movement gingerly in the fear of experiencing too much pain at once. It had been so long since she hadn't been in pain… she hardly recognized it. The sunlight poured in from a window on the right. There was a garden out there and in the distance, across a grassy plain filled with farms and homesteads, she saw mountains capped with snow.

She looked at her hands. They looked so old and wrinkled, she could scarcely believe it. It had been a long time since she'd looked at her hands in broad daylight. She looked beyond her hands and found two grass-headed figures passed out with their bodies halfway resting on the foot of the bed. They were boys… twins… and suddenly Nino realized who they were. They were her babies, her sons. The last time she'd seen them they were little tikes that called her "momma" and spent whole days picking flowers for her. Now they were young men. They'd grown so handsome, Nino's heart filled with pride… but it was a regretful pride. So much had happened, frankly way more than she supposed. She had never wished for all the things her sons had probably experienced in her absence.

One of her sons stirred from his slumber, the other soon followed… so much like how she remembered they used to do. One looked at the other in wonder, responded in kind by his brother. One, dressed in a yellow tunic, hugged her tight, the other followed seconds later. She felt the warmth of these boys… these young men upon her. "Momma," one whispered.

She smiled and held tight these enormous boys with her aged hands. "My babies," she whispered. They were a trio glued together for some time. They let the years lost to them fall silently to the ground because in that moment what they had lost didn't matter; only what they had found. When she finally let go of her sons, she looked at them, studying the 13-year-old's faces. "So," she said with a smile, "which one of you handsome young men is Lugh and which one's Lleu?"

Lugh smiled at Lleu, the later mirroring him with a shaking head. They obliged their poor mother quickly. Their father had always been able to tell the twins apart, their mother always had a slightly more difficult time. "I love you, momma," said Lugh, "You haven't changed a bit."

"Oh, now you're exaggerating," she chuckled, looking at her hands… her chuckles turned to sobs. "God, what have I done?" The brothers exchanged a glance and hugged her once more.

"Chad!" cried Cath, running through the streets of Pherae. She caught the sound of crying on her ears. Stealthily she moved towards the sound and found Chad in the corner of a back alley, knees against the sandstone wall. She approached him calmly, sympathy in her eyes, "Chad?"

He looked up, puffy eyed, before attempting to hide his tears. "Chad," she soothed. She knelt at his side, despite how grimy the alley was. She sighed a little and gently probed him with her fingers. "C'mere," she said, slowly pulling him into a hug.

"No," Chad sobbed, "I don't deserve it! I'm a baby for crying when I have nobody to cry on!"

"You are not and that's not true," she spoke, "You have me, right? I'm here for you, Chad." With a little force, she was able to bring him into a hug. He almost unloaded on her when she finally succeeded; her eyes grew wide in surprise for a moment as Chad bawled. "It's okay, Chad," she said softly once he resumed his quiet sobs. She stroked his fuzzy dirty-blond hair with her fingers.

He sniffed a few times to let the tears flow. After a few sobs he grew quiet. "I love you," he whispered into her ear.

Cath grinned, "Me too, fluffy head. Don't be so afraid of crying in front of me… Just as long as you don't snot all over my clothes…"

Chad laughed. He squeezed her tight and kissed her, "Thanks Cath."

"Any time, partner," she winked.

Something of a festival had sprung up in the town once word got around that Erk and Nino were back. Nino went outside to view the commotion with her two sons at her side. Erk saw the boys were her height now. They looked so grown up now. Erk moved towards his wife, who locked eyes with him and smiled. He enveloped her in his arms and held her tight; his lips met hers in a kiss so long desired by both that it felt like their first… It was the relief both had been waiting nine years for, the sign that all their pain had ceased. The brothers hugged their parents and the townspeople cheered. The family was together again.

Lowen, Rebecca, Wil, Harken, Isadora, and Marcus were all there to wish the two well. Other members of the community all praised Erk and Nino. Evidently in the six years they'd lived there, they'd left more memories in the minds of the people of Pherae than they'd thought. It was a long night of merriment and music, Erk and Nino twirled around happily in dance for what seemed like hours.

When it was over and the next day dawned at the inn, Erk and Nino had breakfast with their sons… now three as they'd decided to adopt Chad more or less officially. Cath, Jenifer, Sophia, and Hugh ate at the next table, participating in the conversation. "What should we do now?" asked Nino. "Not to rush things, but… life does go on."

"Perhaps we should fix up the old house," spoke Erk.

"No," said Lleu. Erk and Nino looked at their son, "Sorry… but there's too many memories there."

"Besides, it's not big enough," said Lugh.

"Big enough for what?" asked Nino.

"We still have to collect the little ones," said Chad.

Lugh nodded, "We can't leave them to be orphans too… they've been through a tough war as much as we have."

"Hm," nodded Erk, "where can we go, then?"

Lleu looked at Lugh, who said, "I have an idea…" He explained about his idea of taking a moldy old castle in the Western Isles and turning it into a renowned magic school. Orphans of all sorts would be welcomed there and though magic would be a focus, Chad would teach art and in time they'd offer other subjects.

"That's a wonderful idea!" exclaimed Nino, "It'll be perfect!" Erk nodded with a smile.

"How 'bout you guys?" asked Lugh to the brothers' four friends.

"Might be fun," shrugged Cath, "maybe I could be your treasurer or something… You've got to have fundage for something like this. You can leave that to me." Chad's brow furrowed in worry, hoping Cath wouldn't raid Etruria's royal vaults… or worse, get caught.

"Yeah, I might go too," said Hugh, "might as well stick with family for now. I could help recruit too…"

"I am happy… where ever you go… Lleu," said Sophia. Lleu smiled, he'd like that.

"I should probably get back to my family first," blushed Jenifer, "but maybe I can join you soon… I hope…"

"Then let's start our journey back," spoke Erk.

"Tomorrow," said Nino, "it wouldn't hurt to spend an extra day in Pherae."

"Alright," said Erk, "I suppose Lord Pent can wait for our success on the edge of his seat an extra day."

Two weeks and one gained deed later and the trio dismounted before the castle Lugh had been talking about. Erk, Nino, Sophia, Cath, and Hugh were already inside the ancient fortress, attempting to make it habitable. Lleu, Chad, and Lugh had gone on a supply run to a village fifteen miles away. They'd seen the castle before, of course, so Lleu was puzzled at Lugh, who stared at the place intently. "What?" he asked.

"It needs a lot of work," spoke Lugh. He studied the moss-covered battlements and the ruined walls.

Chad chuckled, putting his arms around his brothers, "Guys, if the last year has taught us anything, it's that the three of us can do pretty much anything. You really think we won't be able to fix up a moldy old castle?"

"I didn't say it was moldy," protested Lugh. He nodded, "But yeah, you're right."

"Agreed," said Lleu.

"Alright, guys," said Lugh, putting his left fist down, joined quickly by Chad's and Lleu's, "let's get to work." With their three-way fist-pump, they set about unloading supplies.

* * *

><p>Jaffar's fate... rather interesting, no? I suppose him becoming governor of a minor Western Isle is no odder a fate than the myriad of others fanfic writers have concocted for the Angel of Death... right? Anyway, the important thing is that he still stalks (more or less) Nino and kinda repays what she did for him in FE7...<p>

I somewhat realize the ending is anti-climatic. I think it's more interesting this way, rather than a quasi-stereotypical "storm the fortress" sort of ending... Let me know what you think of it in the reviews *cowers in fear*

Maybe a tad too much fluff and drama for my tastes... said the author of this fic, but I finished it! That's the important thing! I feel rather accomplished to have finished something I started that wasn't a one-shot!

A review of doom and daisies would be kind! ^_^

...Oh, and stay tuned for an epilogue of joy!


	13. Epilogue

There will now be a brief Epilogue... Not much to say quite.

Except to Nintendo and IS: To you, I say that you cannot sue me because this fan fiction is henceforth in the Public Domain! And protected by the Fair Use Act of 1976 because I ain't sellin' it! WEEEEE! AHAHAHAHA!

*Ahem* Right, right, chapter... heh...

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><p>Epilogue<p>

Roy watched as Lilina dipped into the sea. "Are you coming or not?" she asked.

"I'm just admiring the view, beautiful," grinned Roy.

Lilina looked at the scant bathing suit she was wearing, "I'll never let an Etrurian buy me clothes again."

"Oh c'mon, you look beautiful," assured Roy.

"I look like I'm in smallclothes!" she exclaimed, turning red again.

"And you can't tell me you don't appreciate my bathing suit?" asked Roy, holding his arms up to show off his bare chest above his shorts.

"Yes, ab-boy, I do—Are you coming in or aren't you?" Lilina asked. She was barely passed ankle-deep in the water herself.

"Uh… How cold is it?" asked Roy.

"Freezing," was the reply.

"Well, I dunno—"

"Oh, for God's sake!" the blue haired 17-year-old rushed up to grab her husband before dragging him into the water.

"Hey-what the-stop! Lilina!" He crashed into the water with an almighty splash. "…It's not cold at all!"

She laughed hard and long before she replied, "You're so gullible!"

"Am not!" protested the red-head.

"Oh, but you are," she giggled. She pushed out into the water to join Roy.

"Where's Wolt?" asked Roy.

"Still in the castle," replied Lilina as she treaded water next to Roy, "I think he's still trying to get Sue into that ridiculous bathing suit."

"You didn't seem to have trouble," pointed out Roy.

"Because suddenly all my clothing disappeared this morning," said Lilina, looking expectedly at the teenaged boy. Roy blushed a bit.

"Hey guys!" called Chad from down the shore, near the castle, "we're coming in in a minute!"

"Okay!" called Roy back.

"He sounds so much older now," commented Lilina.

"Yeah, they all do. They've really grown up," said Roy, "makes me feel… old."

Lilina chuckled, "You're a quarter dragon, Roy, and you think it's bad now?"

A few minutes later and four 14-year-olds, one 15-year-old, and an eighty-something (who looked much younger indeed) dunked themselves into the water. "Thanks for inviting us," spoke Roy when Lugh and Lleu swam near, "God knows Lilina, Wolt, Sue, and I needed the distraction—" Lilina pinched him, "er… vacation. Sorry we couldn't make it out for a year."

"It's all good," said Lleu, "You wouldn't want to come out here last summer; it was a mess."

"I mean you are King and Queen of Lycia, after all," said Lugh, "we couldn't have you sleep in a pile of rubble."

Roy shook his head. "I'm glad to be just Roy for a week or two," said Roy, "if I go too long in a courtroom I'll just lose it all… I feel almost insane."

"Me too," agreed Lilina, "you guys have a great place out here."

"Thanks," said Lugh.

More people came into the water; the little ones and other orphans and students who'd been recruited by the three brothers so far (those of whom who could swim). Even Erk and Nino joined them… and Eliwood, who desperately needed a vacation as much as his son did. "Oh damn it, if Wolt and Sue don't come out here in the next five minutes, I'm dragging them out," said Roy. Lilina laughed.

The sun hung low in the sky as everyone gathered outdoors at a long wood table for dinner. Lowen and Rebecca had come with Eliwood and insisted on showing off some of their spit-fire cooking. The feast of deliciousness that came from the time-honored cooking team filled everyone's bellies as they laughed and chatted around the table. Jaffar even made an appearance, though this wasn't uncommon. Chad welcomed his father and talked away with the rest of them.

After dinner, the trio watched the sun set on a small cliff overlooking the beach. "A good day, as usual," commented Chad.

"I think it's quite an accomplishment," said Lleu, "getting Roy, Lilina, Wolt, and Sue out here. Could they ever look more like they needed a vacation?"

"Or Lord Eliwood?" asked Lugh. He looked over at the castle, "We did a good job making that thing a home…"

"Yeah," nodded Lleu.

"I think all our problems are over now," said Lugh, "finally…"

"Oh, that isn't wise to say, Lugh," said Chad as he looked at his brother, "but I still say we three can do pretty much anything. Who needs to worry about problems if they can be overcome?"

"True," nodded Lleu, "very true."

Fin

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><p>Wow... never thought I'd finish this. I'm being honest here... something possessed me to continue, despite the recent indifference toward this fanfic b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶r̶u̶b̶b̶i̶s̶h̶. Let me just say that this took waaaaaaaaaaaay longer than it ought to have. Let us all hope my pace quickens 'n stuff...<p>

My head canon ending for these three (that you just witnessed in the story):

_Lugh, Lleu (now canonically referred to as Raigh), and Chad open a nice magic school and university in a castle on the Western Isles because they're awesome like that._

I think that's way better than what the other fan fictions and the canon ending say; basically that the trio go their separate ways and are jerks to each other for the rest of their miserable lives... So pessimistic. I believe my attempt to offset such with an optimistic fic may have done the trick...

As for the epilogue itself: Lilina and Roy are probably OOC here... but I reckon that considering they've been working as statesmen for over a year, they've gone a bit batty with boredom and such. It might be against cannon to surmise that Eliwood would actually not die at the end of FE6 and instead be awesome and take a vacation, but I've seen fanfics that have him keel over and also those that have him live at least a number of years more in good health. It's head canon up to your interpretation, I suppose.

Well, now that I've completed this, let me say that my head canon has morphed from this scenario... (I now ship RavenxRebecca, for example, because they need each other and Wolt needs a badass dad) but that's another story for another time...

Oh, c'mon, it can't be that bad, review it! I swear you can't hurt my feelings because I crave reviews telling me what a toadstool I am (so then I can improve myself)...


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